Just this week there was supposedly development, but this is “development in abeyance“. The plan so far was that one part of the highway in the direction of Sofia would pass east of the gorge, and the other part would use the repaired, sometime in the future, road E79, which we are currently using when traveling to Greece.
This was stated on the air of “Eurocom“ by journalist Mila Cherneva from “Capital“.
““For many years, the idea has met with resistance, but it is logical. GERB governments have portrayed environmental organizations as demons who hinder development and the construction of a highway. In fact, they insisted the whole time that the highway be moved east of the gorge. Last week, the Council of Ministers adopted a so-called Roadmap, with which they were forced from abroad to accept and have a clear position“, she added.
“The position is to move the highway out of the gorge and not use this road. In 2016, the RIA had announced a conceptual design for the highway to look exactly like this, but there was no eco-assessment at that time. In 2017, an eco-assessment was issued. This was during the second GERB cabinet. They pretended that this way they would be able to build this highway. But this is not the way to build this highway. What the Council of Ministers has adopted now is an admission that the environmental organizations were probably right. Now we will have to think about how to move the highway from both sides of the gorge. This will lead to delays“, the journalist specified.