Transport in Montenegro - Highways

Highways

Overall length of roads in Montenegro is 5,277 km, of which 1,729 km is paved. The roads in Montenegro are categorized in the following way:

• Motorways (Autoputevi) - There are currently no roads built to motorway standards, but two motorways are currently in planning stages: Bar - Boljare motorway and Montenegrin section of Adriatic–Ionian motorway.

• Main roads (Magistralni putevi) - roads connecting bigger cities and regions of Montenegro. Most of the main roads of Montenegro are listed with International E-road network, and are locally labeled with M letter followed by a number. Typically, these are paved roads of single carriageway type, featuring one lane per direction, with frequent addition of a third overtaking lane on sections with steep gradients. Curve radii usually allow speeds of up to 80 km/h, and width of a single traffic lane is usually at least 3m. Main roads listed with International E-road network in Montenegro are:
  • / - Route E65/E80, locally M2 (Debeli Brijeg/Croatia - Petrovac - Podgorica - Kolašin - Berane - Rožaje - border with Serbia)
  • - Route E762, locally M18 (Border with Albania - Božaj - Tuzi - Podgorica - Danilovgrad - Nikšić - Plužine - Šćepan Polje - border with Bosnia & Herzegovina)
  • - Route E763, locally M21 (Bijelo Polje - border with Serbia)
  • - Route E851, locally M2.4 (Petrovac - Sutomore - Bar - Krute - Ulcinj - Sukobin - border with Albania)

Sections of E65/E80 (Debeli Brijeg - Petrovac) and E851 (Petrovac - Ulcinj) together make up for the Montenegrin section of Adriatic Highway.

• Regional roads (Regionalni putevi) - these are road connections between regional centers, and connections of the regional centers with the network of main roads. Typically, these are paved roads, but with smaller curve radii and narrower lanes than those of the main roads. Thus, lower speed limits are more common on regional roads. These roads are locally labeled with R letter followed by a number.

• Local roads (Lokalni putevi) - local roads connections of villages and other settlements of local communities. Quality of road infrastructure varies wildly between local roads, so these can be both unpaved dirt roads, as well as roads resembling regional roads in quality and appearance.

Current categorization of the roads has become obsolete in some cases, with upgrades of some road sections, and decay of the others. For example, road Kolašin - Mateševo - Andrijevica road, labelled as Main road, is greatly inferior in quality to the Mojkovac - Žabljak road, which is designated as a Regional road.

In recent years roads connecting Podgorica and the coastal towns have improved significantly with the completion of Sozina tunnel and numerous upgrades of roads towards Cetinje and Bar. Sozina tunnel shortened the journey from Podgorica to Bar to under half an hour and made the trip significantly safer.

In the north, the road from Podgorica to Kolašin through Morača canyon to Serbia is considered the bottleneck of Montenegrin road network, as it is a curvy mountainous road, often unsafe during the winter. Bar - Boljare motorway is envisioned as a replacement for this corridor. Long term plans also include the Montenegrin section of Adriatic–Ionian motorway as a significant transit link.

There is a proposed route from the city of Podgorica to Gusinje. The highway, expected to go through northwestern Albania, (from Grabom to Vermosh), will mean a journey time to Gusinje and Plav of about half an hour.

Also, the Verige bridge spanning the Bay of Kotor and part of the Adriatic Highway is planned to be built in the future.