A9 (Croatia) - History

History

Construction of the A9 motorway, and the Istrian Y as a whole, began in 1968 when the Parliament of Croatia endorsed a petition of its members from Istria to promote construction of a modern road between the Istria peninsula and the rest of Croatia. Subsequently, municipalities in Istria started a public loan to fund construction of the Učka Tunnel, which started in 1976. The works were completed in 1981 and also included construction of a 22.6 kilometres (14.0 miles) long two-lane expressway section between Matulji and Lupoglav. The "Y" shape, formed by the A9 motorway and the A8 expressway, was originally defined by Rijeka and Istria spatial planning documents and later incorporated in the spatial planning documents of the Republic of Croatia in 1988—defining the Kanfanar interchange as a junction between the A9 and A8 routes.

The first section of the A9 to be built was a 7.4-kilometre (4.6 mi) section between Medaki and Kanfanar. Its construction started in 1988 and was completed in 1991, including the 552-metre (1,811 ft) viaduct across the Lim Valley. The 6.2-kilometre (3.9 mi) section between Buje and Nova Vas was built between 1990 and 1992. Between 1997 and 1999 all sections between Medaki and Vodnjan were completed. The construction works on the section between Umag and Medaki started in 2003 and were completed by 2005. Finally, construction of the southernmost section between Vodnjan and Pula started in 2005, and was completed by the end of the 2006; marking completion of the Istrian Y as a two-lane expressway with grade–separated intersections.

Upgrading the expressway to a six-lane motorway started on October 6, 2008. The upgrade was scheduled to take place in two stages, designated by the BINA Istra as 2A and 2B. The 2A stage entailed construction of the second carriageway between Umag and Pula, except at the Mirna Bridge and the Limska Draga Viaduct. The upgrade of the Pula–Kanfanar interchange section of the A9, approximately 30 kilometres (19 miles) long, was completed on June 20, 2010. At that moment a ticket system was introduced at section as the first tolled portion of the motorway that included the Mirna Bridge. On June 28, 2010, the northern terminus of the A9 motorway was completed with an access roundabout where two connector roads to the border crossings of Kaštel and Plovanija on the Slovenian border intersected it. The upgrade construction works continued in the remaining part of the motorway encompassed by the 2A stage, and the 50-kilometre (31 mi) section between the Kanfanar interchange and Umag was upgraded to a six-lane motorway by June 14, 2011; eight months ahead of schedule. Total costs of the upgrade to the A9 motorway were 228 million euros.

Since September 21, 1995, the motorway has been operated by the BINA Istra company, as part of a 32-year build-operate-transfer concession contract. The concession provided for the takeover of the existing 54-kilometre (34 mi) section of the road, and a completed tube of the Učka Tunnel. The concession agreement also mandated construction, maintenance and management of the roads, and their upgrade to motorway standards (dual carriageway), when the annual average daily traffic (AADT) reaches 10,000 vehicles; or when the average summer daily traffic reaches 16,000 vehicles. The latter was achieved in 2005, and the motorway upgrade works started in 2008—even though the AADT at the time was only 8,500 vehicles.