The project for the construction of the "Zheleznitsa" tunnel on the "Struma" motorway is among the five nominations that have reached the final phase of the competition in the "Connected Europe" category of the REGIOSTARS 2025 competition, the "Road Infrastructure" Agency announced. The deadline for entries in the European Commission's competition for the best projects is October 15.
Voting for the finalists will determine the Audience Award. It began in early September and continues until mid-October. All those wishing to support the “Zheleznitsa“ tunnel project can do so here. The public vote is also available on all social platforms, on the pages of the initiative - REGIOSTARS Awards public voting.
The “Road Infrastructure“ Agency will present the project during the European Week of Regions and Cities, which will be held this week in Brussels. The Bulgarian project will be presented by Eng. Zlatka Peteva – Director of the “European Projects for Transport Connectivity” Directorate, and by Natalia Lambreva - Head of Department in the same Directorate. Eng. Ventsislav Atanasov, member of the RIA Board of Directors, will also participate in the forum.
Based on the jury's assessments, the winners in the respective category will be announced at the official ceremony, which will be held on October 15.
The total number of projects in the competition is 266 from all EU member states. The projects selected for the final phase were evaluated by a jury appointed by the European Commission.
The “Railway“ tunnel is about 2 km long and has two separate tubes for traffic. The facility has all safety systems, energy-efficient lighting, ventilation, video surveillance, fire alarm, intelligent traffic management system, emergency SOS cabins, electronic access control system, etc. Between the tubes there are four cross connections for pedestrians and two more for cars, which can be used by ambulances, fire engines and other specialized vehicles. In the event of a traffic accident or the closure of one of the pipes, they will be used to safely evacuate passengers.
A helipad has also been built within the scope of the project, which can be used both for medical helicopters and in mass incidents, mountain rescue operations, etc. The project was implemented with funds under the Operational Program “Transport and Transport Infrastructure“ 2014-2020.