PRISTINA (Kosovo), December 22 (SeeNews) – Kosovo's government said on Friday it inaugurated a 14.5 km section of a motorway linking the capital Pristina to the border with Macedonia.
The motorway is now open to traffic from the capital Pristina to the southeastern city of Ferizaj, according to a statement posted on the website of the prime minister's office.
The 60 km motorway, of which two sections have been built, is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2018, according to the infrastructure ministry.
Kosovo started building the motorway worth around 600 million euro ($712 million) in 2014 after signing a construction contract with U.S.-based engineering and construction major Bechtel and its Turkish joint-venture partner Enka. The motorway, the country's second, comprises eight bridges, six intersections, 29 overpasses and 17 underpasses.
Kosovo’s first motorway, which runs from Morina on the Albanian border to the north of Pristina, was built by the Bechtel-Enka team and delivered a year ahead of schedule in November 2013.
The Bechtel-Enka team has successfully delivered a number of major infrastructure projects in the region, including motorways in Albania, Croatia, and Turkey. The two companies completed more than 28,000 kilometers of highways and roads, 100 tunnels totaling some 350 kilometers in length, and 25 major bridge projects.
($=0.8424 euro)