A6 (Croatia) - History

History

Transport links between Rijeka and Zagreb have always been of substantial importance because of the transport requirements of the Port of Rijeka. This was first recognised by the Habsburg Empire in 1728, when the Carolina road was completed, and again in 1780 when the road was modernized. The original Rijeka–Zagreb road was replaced in 1811 by a new route, the Louisiana road, in order to avoid the steep sections of its predecessor. The new road remained the primary transport link to Rijeka until 1873, when the first railroad to the city was built. Further development of the port and industry in Rijeka and Zagreb required a more efficient road, which was built in 1954. That road was to remain the principal road transport link between the two cities for decades.

Zagreb–Rijeka motorway, of which the A6 motorway is a part, was one of three routes defined in 1971 as priority transport routes of Yugoslavia that were to be developed as motorways. The first section of the A6 motorway, between Orehovica and Kikovica, was 10.5 km (6.5 mi) long and opened on September 9, 1972. The section was also the first six-lane motorway built in Yugoslavia. The 39.3-kilometre (24.4 mi) long Zagreb–Karlovac section, now designated the A1 motorway, was completed on December 29, 1972. Further construction was suspended for the following 25 years, as a political decision had been made by the Yugoslav leadership to withdraw funding for the construction. The funds were instead allocated to the construction of a motorway that would travel between Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade, and Skopje, then known as the Brotherhood and Unity Highway. The Croatian section of the highway later became the A3 motorway. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, construction of the Rijeka–Zagreb motorway was still on hold due to the Croatian War of Independence, and no further construction took place until 1996. The sole exception to the 25-year-long hiatus was the 7.25-kilometre (4.50 mi) long Kikovica–Oštrovica section, which was originally executed as an expressway and opened in 1982.

In 1996, construction of the A6 motorway resumed, and in 1997, a further 30 km (19 mi) of expressway between Oštrovica and Kupjak was completed. In December 1997, the government of the Republic of Croatia founded the Autocesta Rijeka–Zagreb company and tasked it with operating the completed sections of motorway and the construction of the remainder of the route. The new motorway operator resumed construction in three stages. During the first stage, 60.18 km (37.39 mi) of expressway between Kupjak and Karlovac were completed by the end of June 2004, comprising 60.18 kilometres (37.39 mi) of motorway and semi-motorway. In the second stage, the expressway was upgraded to a full motorway by the end of October 2008. This stage required additional construction along 55.57 kilometres (34.53 mi) of the route. The upgraded motorway was officially opened on October 22, 2008, by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader at a ceremony held at the southern portal of Tuhobić Tunnel. The opening ceremony coincided with opening of a new bridge over the river Mura on the border between Croatia and Hungary, connecting the A4 to the Hungarian M7 motorway. Thus the route spanning Budapest–Zagreb–Rijeka was completed as a modern motorway. Construction costs incurred are estimated at 661.5 million euros. Even though Hrvatske autoceste normally develops motorways in Croatia, the A6 motorway is operated and maintained by Autocesta Rijeka–Zagreb.