Prilep - Bitola: 12 of 40 Kilometres of Motorway Next Year, While Nobody Even Knows Whether the 25 Kilometres to Farish Will Be a Motorway

The Prilep - Bitola motorway is 40 kilometres long. Next year, according to Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski, the first 12 will be opened to traffic. The other 28 will have to wait, and construction, he says, is moving "at a good pace".

The minister highlights the technology as the big novelty. Instead of a classic earth base, the route is getting a crushed-stone base, which he says will significantly increase driving stability. It's a first in Macedonia, he says, and Kičevo - Bukojčani and Skopje - Blace will be built the same way.

The 25-kilometre gap

The more important part of the statement is what hasn't been settled. The motorway starts about nine kilometres from Prilep, and between Farish and Prilep there remain 25 kilometres for which the state still hasn't even decided what to build. "We're currently discussing to find a solution on whether to build them as a motorway or an expressway," Nikoloski said.

From Gradsko to Farish, drivers already use the two opened sections of the expressway, Gradsko - Drenovo and Drenovo - Farish. From Prilep towards Bitola, a motorway is being built. And between them sit 25 kilometres with no decision - precisely the stretch that's supposed to join the two projects into one road to Pelagonia.

For the first section there's a concrete number and a year: 12 kilometres in 2027. For the 25 kilometres to Farish there's neither. Will Pelagonia get a whole road - or two pieces that never touch?