As of 10 June, the Ttraffic on the I-1 Road in the Section between Mezdra and Lyutidol Will be Restricted

From 10 June /Saturday/ the traffic in both directions on the I-1 road between Mezdra and Lyutidol will be restricted. The temporary organization in the section from the 160th to the 172nd km is for the implementation of construction works for the modernization of the first-class road. The plan is for widening the route to a four-lane gauge with a dividing strip, as well as the construction of bypass routes that will take transit traffic away from the settlements. The complete closure of the section is also necessary because the lane in the direction of Vidin, in the section between the 161st and 172nd km, will be built in the immediate vicinity of the existing I-1 road, while the lane in the direction of Sofia will be mostly on the existing route of the first-class road. A number of facilities will also be built. Blasting of slopes, grading and slope failures, installation of slope netting, and a variety of other construction activities will be required to complete all of the planned project activities and roadway doubling. Their safe execution requires a complete closure of the section, thus avoiding serious traffic hazards and the preconditions for traffic accidents.

During the execution of the construction works, cars of up to 3.5 tonnes will pass on road III-1004 (Pavolche — Chelopek) — road III-1602 (Chelopek — Lyutybrod) — road II-16 (Lyutibrod — Eliseina — Svoge — II-18 Sofia ring road and vice versa.

For vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes the following detour routes are provided:

• road II-13 Krapchene — Krivodol — Borovan — Byala Slatina — Knezha — Dolni Dabnik — Road I-3 Dolni Dabnik — Cherven Bryag — Lukovit — Zlatna Panega — Hemus Motorway and vice versa;
• road II-15 Vratsa — Borovan — road II-13 Borovan — Byala Slatina — Knezha — Dolni Dabnik — road I-3 Dolni Dabnik — Cherven Bryag — Lukovit — Zlatna Panega — Hemus Motorway and vice versa.

Drivers of vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes may use other possible diversion routes:

• in the direction of Sofia: on road II-81 Montana — Sofia, through the ‘Petrohan’ pass — until the introduction of the winter maintenance of the road;
• in the direction of Montana: Hemus Motorway — road I-3 Yablanitsa — Zlatna Panega — road III-103 Zlatna Panega — Batultsi — Roman — Dolna Beshovitsa — Gorna Beshovitsa — Kalen — Gorna Kremena — Dolna Kremena — Mezdra — road I-1 Mezdra — Montana.

            On the section of I-1 road traffic is scheduled to resume in December 2023.

The Road Infrastructure Agency apologises to motorists for the inconvenience caused when travelling along the diversion route, but the traffic stoppage is necessary to ensure both the safety of transit traffic and to provide a construction site for the upgrade of the new route, which will be twice as wide as the current one.

 The appeal to the drivers is to drive carefully, at a reasonable speed, to strictly observe the traffic signals and not to undertake risky overtaking which could endanger the safety and lives of all passengers.