Truck and car drivers are organising a peaceful protest in Belitsa over the closed section of the Yundola – Yakoruda – Razlog road. The meeting point is at the railway station in the town, and the participants are demanding that traffic be allowed to use at least one lane during the repairs. Drivers from Yakoruda, Belitsa, Razlog and Gotse Delchev are expected to join the initiative.
The restriction was imposed because of a rockslide and partial subsidence of the roadway on Road II-84. The affected section is between the turn-off for Avramovo at approximately kilometre 61 and the junction for Eleshnitsa at approximately kilometre 97, covering about 35 kilometres. Initially, traffic was halted in both directions, but after emergency works, one lane was opened to cars.
The ban on trucks using the route remains in force. According to the Bulgarian National Radio, emergency teams from the Regional Road Administration, the road maintenance company and Yakoruda Municipality have widened the section to allow cars and light commercial vehicles to pass, with traffic regulated by traffic lights.
Drivers are being forced to use detour routes via Dospat, Gotse Delchev and Sarnitsa. The organisers say this adds more than 100 kilometres to the journey, while other reports cite a detour of around 150 kilometres. The difference depends on the starting and final points of the journey.
The cause of the subsidence
Hristo Atanaskovski, director of the Regional Road Administration in Blagoevgrad, said that the problem began when an old retaining wall collapsed. “The rain causes the foundation itself to become saturated, as a result of which the wall gives way and collapses. After the wall collapsed, part of one of the lanes also slid down,” Atanaskovski told the Bulgarian National Television.
A project is to be prepared to restore the retaining wall and the collapsed roadway, after which the repair work will be commissioned through an accelerated procedure. Until the work is completed, heavy goods vehicles cannot pass through the problematic section, and drivers must use the detour routes.
Sources: focus-news.net, bntnews.bg, bnrnews.bg