R7 Motorway (Kosovo)
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Autostrada 'Dr Ibrahim Rugova' | |
| Lua error in Module:Infobox_road/map at line 16: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Map of the R7 Motorway
|
|
Portion of the R7 Motorway
|
|
| Route information | |
Part of  E851 |
|
| Length: | 101 km (63 mi) |
| Major junctions | |
| West end: | Vërmicë |
| East end: | Pristina |
| Location | |
| Major cities: | Prizren, Pristina |
| Highway system | |
| Roads in Kosovo | |
The R7 Motorway (commonly named the Dr Ibrahim Rugova Highway or simply Autostrada Ibrahim Rugova) is a motorway located in Kosovo[a]. Forming part of the E851, it is the first motorway constructed in the region and it links the Albanian border at the village of Vërmicë with the capital Pristina. Construction of the motorway started in April 2010. It was finished in 2013 with the Vërmicë-Pristina segment ending in Gjergjica at the M9. The highway is seen as part of the larger Vërmicë-Merdare corridor ending at the Merdare border crossing with Serbia in eastern Kosovo. R7 is 101 km long at a cost of €700 million/ $790 million. This highway, along with the A1 Motorway in Albania, have set the travel time from Pristina to Tirana to 3 hours.[1] Once the remaining E80 Pristina-Merdare section project will be finalized and completed, the motorway will link Kosovo through the present E80 highway with the Pan-European corridor X (E75) near Niš, Serbia.
History and impact
Since the end of the Kosovo War of 1999, hundreds of thousands of Albanians have passed through the poor old mountain road to get to Albania's beaches.[2] It was clear that building a highway in both sides would "crystallize a year-round tourism industry and double the size of the Albanian market", while allowing both communities to rationalize agriculture.[2] Construction of the Albanian side began in 2007 and that of the Kosovo side in 2010. After both motorways were completed in 2010 and 2013 respectively, travel times have been lowered to two and a half hours or less, down from seven.[2]
Once finalized, the project will link the Adriatic Sea with the Pan-European corridor X at the E80 near the town of Merdare between the disputed Kosovo-Serbia border.
Exit list
| Type | Name | Connections | Destinations |
|---|---|---|---|
Beginning of  , Vërmicë, border with  Albania) |
|||
 |
Prizren jug |  |
Connection to Prizren South and Skopje, Macedonia |
|
|
Prizren veri | R107 | Connection to Prizren North, Pec, and Dakovica |
|
|
Suhareke | R117 | Connection to Suhareka and Theranda |
|
|
Duhel | |
Connection to Duhel/Dulje and Shtime/Stimlje |
|
|
Malisheve | R119 | Connection to Malisheve |
End of , the road continues as  for 24 km (interchanges to Gjergjica, Sllatine e Madhe and Fushe Kosove are available) |
|||
|
|
Fushe Kosove | |
Connection to Pristina and Kosovo Polje |
|
|
Skopje (under construction) |  |
Connection to R6 Motorway, Hani i Elezit and Skopje,  Macedonia (future) |
|
|
Pristina |  |
Connection to Pristina Northwest and Kosovska Mitrovica |
End of , the road continues as /E80 to Besiane and Merdare (border with  Serbia) |
|||
Notes and references
Notes:
| a. | ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has been recognised as an independent state by 108 out of 193 United Nations member states. |
References:
See also
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Autostradë A1. |
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Roads in Kosovo. |
- Albania Motorway Webpage at Bechtel
- Kosovo Motorway Official Website
- A1 on Motorway-ExitLists.com
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (Video)
