The long overdue renovation of the Hemus Motorway along the Shoumen – Varna section has begun, the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) said in a media statement, cited by Dnevnik daily on April 9 2010.

"Paramount importance" will be given to sections in dire need of repair, such as the Vetrino interchange, as well as the sections of the motorway at Provadia, Devnya, Povelyanovo and Aksakovo. "The surface of the motorway will be repaired where needed," the report says.

Bozhidar Yotov, head of RIA, said that he will check on the readiness of the firms involved in the overhaul process.

Meanwhile, the segment of the national road between checkpoint Captain Andreevo at the Turkish border and Svilengrad is also being restored. Reportedly, "about 70 per cent of the potholes have been fixed" and repair work is scheduled to be completed by the close of the week ending April 18.

The aim is for the entire road infrastructure leading to the Turkish border to be in prime condition by May in order to accommodate the expected rise in traffic in the summer.

Also under consideration is the Rousse-Shoumen-Varna motorway section.

On March 30, it was announced that Bulgaria's Regional Development Ministry had drafted a programme for the rehabilitation of 64 bridges and 101 major junctions.

The junctions selected for overhaul are reportedly among the busiest and most accident-prone.
According to Regional Development Minister Rossen Plevneliev, the ministry has prepared infrastructure projects worth about four billion euro, which will be financed under the operative programme Transport in the 2013/20 budget period, including the Strouma Motorway section through the Kresnensko Gorge, the motorways between Sofia and Kalotina, Varna – Bourgas and Sofia – Gyushevo.