On October 4, 1974, the construction of the Hemus Motorway began.
The Chairman of the State Council and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party Todor Zhivkov broke the ground near the village of Yana (Sofia Region). This was also the first day of the construction of motorways in Bulgaria. The start of the actual construction was preceded by three years of preliminary engineering and geological studies that led to the preparation of the final detailed design. The main designer of the route is Eng. Dena Palankova.
The decision to build was made at the 10th Congress of the Bulgarian Communist Party held in the period 20-25 April 1971. Along with the discussions on the new constitution and the change in the Statute of the Bulgarian Communist Party, it was decided to proceed with the construction of a motorway ring in Bulgaria - construction of the "Hemus" motorway in Northern Bulgaria, the "Thrace" motorway in Southern Bulgaria and the "Black Sea" motorway, connecting the latter two along our sea coast.
The motorway is named after the ancient name of the Stara Planina - Hemus (in Latin: Haemus), along which it passes. Its length is 418 km, making it the longest motorway in Bulgaria, with 191 km of it currently completed and in use.