First section of future A5 motorway opened

Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on Friday opened the first section of a future, 89-kilometre-long A5 motorway which will be running from the Hungarian border via Beli Manastir and Osijek to the Bosnian border.

The construction of the 23-kilometre section from Sredanci to Djakovo cost HRK 1.4 billion. The A5 will be part of international transport corridor 5C running from Budapest via Osijek and Sarajevo to the southern Croatian Adriatic port of Ploce.

The work, carried out by a consortium of Croatian construction companies, lasted about a year. Twenty various structures, such as bridges, overpasses and underpasses, were built as part of the project.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Sanader stressed the importance of the road for the future of the Slavonia region, Croatia and its neighbors, saying that it would open the door to investors and entrepreneurs. "There is no economic growth and new jobs without infrastructure," he said.

Sanader expressed hope that the next, 32.5 kilometer-long section from Djakovo to Osijek would be completed before the set deadline of the end of 2008, announcing that preparatory work on the third section, from Osijek to Beli Manastir, would start next year.

Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks said that more than a billion kuna had been invested in the road infrastructure of Osijek-Baranja County this year alone. (Hina)

 

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