A4 (Croatia) - History

History

A motorway connecting Zagreb to Varaždin and Budapest was proposed in the early 1970s, but unlike the Zagreb–Rijeka and Zagreb–Belgrade motorways, no construction was carried out. Although the first section of the route, now designated as the A4 motorway, was completed in 1980, development for the motorway was proposed once again in 1991 to facilitate links between the Varaždin area, Zagreb and the remainder of the Croatian motorway network. The route was added to the network of Pan-European transport corridors in June 1997, during the third Pan-European Transport Conference in Helsinki, and on August 7, 1997, the government of the Republic of Croatia decided to establish the Autocesta Rijeka–Zagreb–Goričan company and award it a 28-year concession to develop, operate and maintain the route as a six-lane motorway. The route consisted of the entire Croatian section of the Pan-European corridor Vb except for 20.8-kilometre (12.9 mi) of the Lučko–Ivanja Reka section of the A3 motorway, which was already in use as a part of Zagreb bypass.

Later that same year, on May 14, 1998, the government signed an agreement with Astaldi, regulating construction of the Zagreb Goričan motorway by 2000. On December 11, 1997, pursuant to the agreement, the government established the Autocesta Rijeka–Zagreb company to take the place of the Autocesta Rijeka–Zagreb–Goričan company, and awarded it the 28-year concession to develop, maintain and operate the Zagreb–Rijeka motorway, effectively excluding the Zagreb–Goričan motorway from the original concession. At the same time, the Transeuropska autocesta d.o.o. (TEA) company was established by the government and awarded concession for development, operation and maintenance of the Zagreb–Goričan motorway. Astaldi owned 51% of TEA, with the remainder owned by the Republic of Croatia. TEA was to secure financing of the project in 1998. Construction began as scheduled; however, financial and legal problems ensued, and by 1999, the press speculated that Astaldi had given up the project, but Astaldi repeatedly denied these claims. Ultimately, the government cancelled the contract and ceded the motorway to Croatian Roads Administration (ancestor of Hrvatske autoceste and Hrvatske ceste), leading Astaldi to turn to the commercial arbitration court in Vienna, which ruled in its favour. The Republic of Croatia was subsequently required to pay Astaldi 44.3 million euro in damages.

In 1980, the 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) Popovec–Ivanja Reka section was the first part of the A4 motorway to be built, as a semi-motorway, for the new Ivanja Reka interchange on the motorway, later designated A3. The first section completed was the 16-kilometre (9.9 mi) Goričan–Čakovec section, opened to traffic in 1997, followed by the 22.4-kilometre (13.9 mi) Komin–Popovec and the 15.58-kilometre (9.68 mi) Čakovec–Varaždin sections, completed in 1998. In 2000, the 12.3-kilometre (7.6 mi) Breznički Hum–Komin section was finished, and in 2003, the motorway route was nearly completed as the 23.25-kilometre (14.45 mi) Varaždin–Breznički Hum section and the second carriageway in the Popovec–Ivanja Reka section were built. The final 1.6-kilometre (0.99 mi) section between the Goričan exit and the Hungarian border opened on October 22, 2008, the same day the final section of the A6 motorway was finalised, marking completion of the Budapest–Zagreb–Rijeka motorway.