More than 350km of motorways in the country need to be made safe

Almost half of the motorways in the country should be made safe, the results an inspection by the Road Safety Institute shows. The report states that out of 846 km of motorways in Bulgaria, 350 km are particularly dangerous.

Experts have found deformations in the wear layer on almost half of the asphalt laid on the country's motorways.

"These are not motorways and whoever named them and put the road sign that this is a motorway is responsible for the victims on these motorways," said Bogdan Milchev of the Road Safety Institute.

Deep ruts have been found, resulting in lorry drivers driving near the single broken line to stabilize towed trailers. Another problem is the uneven surfaces that lead to increased loads on the vehicles.

However, the problems found do not end with the surface. The inspection found 415 locations with damaged safety systems due to crashes. At 31 locations, signs were incorrectly placed.

What's more, around 80% of the markings do not meet minimum requirements for retro-reflectivity, with old markings in places that can confuse drivers. Approximately 250 km of drainage structures are in need of repair, rehabilitation and cleaning as they create conditions for aquaplaning.

"Failure to maintain our motorways leads to us having the confidence to say that these are motorways of death," said Bogdan Milchev.

Until the deficiencies found are corrected, the Institute for Motorway Safety is proposing that mororway speeds be reduced. It presented data obtained under the law on access to public information, according to which in 2022, 230 km of ongoing repairs were carried out in comparison with the planned 3,000 km. The general repair done includes only 7 km.

The institute pointed out that the budget of the RIA for last year was BGN 2.5 billion or three times higher than the previous year, and nearly BGN 59.6 million was paid for the repairs carried out in 2022. The road agency could not be reached for comment today, January 4.