The current road conditions in the country require increased attention from drivers due to active construction activities, traffic at the borders and changing weather conditions. Agency “Road Infrastructure“ (API), General Directorate “Fire Safety and Protection of the Population“ (GDPBZN) and Traffic Police (KAT) presented summarized data for the past 24 hours.
Ministry of Interior Summary: Fires and Accidents in the Country
Over the past 24 hours, firefighting teams on duty have responded to dozens of accident reports. According to official data from the Bulgarian Fire and Rescue Service (source: mvr.bg/gdpbzn), a total of 93 fires have been extinguished across the country, and fortunately, no citizens were killed or injured. 18 fires with direct material damage were registered, of which 6 occurred in residential buildings and 6 affected vehicles.
The statistics of the Traffic Police (source: mvr.bg) for the day report a serious intensity of road traffic. 25 serious road accidents were registered across the country. 3 people died in the accidents, and another 29 were injured and transported to hospitals with varying degrees of injuries. Only in the territory of Sofia, 23 minor accidents occurred without injuries. The main road Sofia - Varna was temporarily obstructed in the Veliko Tarnovo region (village Malki Chiflik) due to a self-crashed car with three injured girls, but traffic has now been fully restored.
API measures and key repairs on the highways
Construction activities and ongoing maintenance are changing the organization of traffic on the main roadways:
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Maritsa Motorway: At the 68th km in the direction of Plovdiv (Haskovo region), urgent repairs of bridge joints are being carried out. Traffic is being restricted in stages in the three lanes, with traffic passing only through the free lane with a speed limit of 90 km/h. (source: api.bg).
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“Hemus“ Motorway: In the Shumen region, the lane in the direction of Sofia is closed from km 350 to km 363 due to preventive repairs. Traffic is redirected two-way in the lane towards Varna. A similar organization has been introduced in the Varna region - in the section between the overpass at Ignatievo and the "Airport" subdivision, where cars are allowed to pass in both directions in one lane.
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First-class and second-class roads: Road II-27 Dolina – Dobrich is completely closed to traffic due to large-scale repair works. A bypass route has been introduced through Dobrich – Malka Smolnitsa – Samuilovo.
Intense traffic at the borders of Bulgaria
Border Police reports increased traffic at several checkpoints. Traffic is intense at the entrance for passenger cars at the “Kalotina“ border-bottom: 0px rgb(10, 10, 10); on the border with Serbia, as well as at the border checkpoint “Kapitan Andreevo“ and the border checkpoint “Malko Tarnovo“ on the border with Turkey. On the Romanian border, traffic on the Danube Bridge near Ruse is operating normally in both lanes, but the ferry connections Oryahovo – Beket and Svishtov – Zimnich remain temporarily suspended due to the critically low level of the Danube River (source: mvr.bg/press).
Conditions for tourism in the mountains
The Mountain Rescue Service (PSS) of the Bulgarian Red Cross reports good conditions for mountain tourism (source: pss-bg.bg). The weather is mostly clear and sunny with temperatures between 3 and 9 degrees in the resorts. However, in the higher parts of the Stara Planina Mountains, moderate to strong winds are blowing and passing fog is observed, which requires increased attention from tourists. The PSS reminds citizens to move only on marked paths and to go out into the mountains with well-charged phones and appropriate equipment.