Ljubljana, 05 March (STA) - National motorway company DARS has published a call for one of the most demanding sections of the long-delayed north-south expressway known as the Third Development Axis.
In what is the first stage of the call, DARS is soliciting interest from contractors for the segment between the Dolenjska motorway near Novo Mesto and Bela Krajina in the south-east, where two branches of the new road link will ultimately lead to the Croatian border near Metlika and to Črnomelj.
The project, whose estimated value has not been mentioned, involves a 12.8-kilometre, four-lane expressway that features a 2.3-kilometre twin-tube tunnel beneath the Gorjanci Range, three viaducts, two covered cuttings, six overpasses, five underpasses, and two rest areas.
Contractor applications for this phase of the project will be accepted until 10 April. Following this, DARS will select suitable companies or consortiums and invite them to participate in the second phase, during which the chosen contractors will be invited to submit their bids.
The Third Development Axis has seen major delays after initial political indecision has been followed with protracted legal proceedings and setbacks in the acquisition of land and permits.
The expressway, complementing the country's diagonal "motorway cross", will run between the border with Austria and the border with Croatia through Slovenj Gradec, Velenje, Celje and Novo Mesto. The northern sections, which DARS said in 2021 would be finished by the end of the 2027, have made better headway than the southern ones.
