site.btaDesign Work Starts on Delayed Sofia Ring Road Section, Regional Development Minister Says

Design work is starting on the six-kilometre section of the Sofia Ring Road between Struma Motorway and the Buxton borough after nearly two years without substantial progress, Regional Development and Public Works Minister Ivan Shishkov told Dari Radio on Saturday.

Shishkov said a detailed development plan was approved in 2023, but no property expropriation or design procedures followed. Preparations are now under way. Coordination on the section between Buxton and Tsar Boris III Boulevard is almost complete, with the project due to go before the Ministry’s Supreme Expert Council.

He described that stretch as the most technically complex part of the ring road. Shishkov also said work is continuing on the Kresna bypass and the administrative procedures for completing Struma Motorway through the Kresna Gorge.

The Ministry is advancing planning for the Ruse-Veliko Tarnovo Motorway, the Petrohan tunnel and the Black Sea Motorway, while also preparing a strategy to accelerate motorway design, expropriation and construction.

Talks are under way with contractors on resuming work on three sections of Hemus Motorway, with the State’s interests regarding previously paid advances to be safeguarded. Shishkov said he would present details on major infrastructure contracts, annexes, price indexation and referrals to the prosecution service on Monday.

He added that an expert review of road restraint standards, including guardrails, has been ordered, stressing that any decision on concrete median barriers should be based on technical assessment rather than individual accidents.