Girish Mahajan (Editor)

A1 motorway (Slovenia)

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From:
  
A9 in Austria

Length
  
236.1 km

A1 motorway (Slovenia)

Major cities
  
Ljubljana, Maribor, Koper, Celje, Postojna

The A1 motorway (Slovene: avtocesta A1), also known as Slovenika, is 236.1 km (146.7 mi) long, connecting Šentilj (at the Austrian border) and Koper/Capodistria (on the shores of the Adriatic Sea). It passes several important Slovenian cities, including Maribor, Celje and Ljubljana all the way to the Slovenian Littoral and Koper, with its important port.

Contents

Map of A1, Slovenia

Construction began in 1970 and the first section was finished in 1972, connecting Vrhnika and Postojna. Everyday operation of this initial stretch started on 29 December 1972.

The connection to Koper was finished on 23 November 2004. The second-to-last part, from Trojane to Blagovica, was opened on 12 August 2005. It was also the most expensive, having eight viaducts and two tunnels despite being only 11 km long. The final section, the eastern Maribor bypass, opened on 14 August 2009.

Route description

The A1 motorway provides connection of Slovenia and Austria (only other motorway with border crossing to Austria being A2 motorway and was from the very start important route, because it connected three largest cities in Slovenia - Ljubljana, Maribor and Celje. On the other hand it also connected all those cities with Slovenian coast and provided better conditions for transit to Port of Koper. As of 2013 it is also the only motorway that is connected to all the other motorways in Slovenia.

As of 2013 motorway always has at least two traffic lanes in each direction and is rarely without emergency lane. On some parts it has three traffic lanes in one direction and two in another (usually the additional is for slow vehicles). Only Tunnel Golovec has three lanes in each direction. It was also planned that some other parts of highway will get additional lanes but most of plans were postponed due to lack of money.

Toll

Until July 1, 2008 all vehicles had to stop at tollgates and pay a toll. Since that date vignettes are required for all vehicles up to 3.5 tons, while heavier vehicles must still pay the toll at a tollgate. Tollgates are being rearranged so that two traffic lanes for lighter vehicles (with vignettes) are no longer divided by tollgates and vehicles can drive through at 60 kilometres per hour (37 miles per hour). Where tollgates are still standing as they were before July 1, 2008, the speed limit is 40 kilometres per hour (25 miles per hour).

There are six toll stations for heavier vehicles Pesnica, Tepanje, Vransko, Kompolje, Log and Videž. For R3 group it ranges from €3.40 to €19.60, together €47.10 at daytime (6 AM-10 PM) and from €3.00 to €17.60, together €42.30 at night (10 PM-6 AM). For R4 group it ranges from €4.90 to €28.30, together €68.20 at daytime (6 AM-10 PM) and from €4.40 to €25.50, together €61.40 at night (10 PM-6 AM).

Notable structures

When most parts of motorway were already done, there came two parts that were something special, meaning tunnels near Trojane with most notable being Tunnel Trojane with length of almost 3 kilometres and thus second longest tunnel in Slovenia (the longest being Karavanke Tunnel) and viaduct Črni Kal, the longest viaduct in Slovenia, being longer than 1 kilometer and also 95 metres high.

Tunnels

The motorway includes ten tunnels, two galleries and one covered cut:

  • Gallery Dragučova right and left 160 m (520 ft)
  • Vodole right 249 m (817 ft), Vodole left 247 m (810 ft)
  • Covered cut Malečnik right and left 185 m (607 ft)
  • Golo rebro right 788 m (2,585 ft), Golo rebro left 757 m (2,484 ft)
  • Pletovarje right 708 m (2,323 ft), Pletovarje left 745 m (2,444 ft)
  • Ločica right 750 m (2,460 ft), Ločica left 810 m (2,660 ft)
  • Jasovnik right 1,633 m (5,358 ft), Jasovnik left 1,612 m (5,289 ft)
  • Trojane right 2,840 m (9,320 ft), Trojane left 2,931 m (9,616 ft)
  • Podmilj right 622 m (2,041 ft), Podmilj left 613 m (2,011 ft)
  • Gallery Strmec right and left 200 m (660 ft)
  • Golovec right 622 m (2,041 ft), Golovec left 595 m (1,952 ft)
  • Kastelec right 2,195 m (7,201 ft), Kastelec left 2,303 m (7,556 ft)
  • Dekani right 2,190 m (7,190 ft), Dekani left2,181 m (7,156 ft)

    • Bridges

    Motorway A1 has 101 viaducts, 109 bridges, 129 overpass in 117 underpass.

    Some of the largest viaduct in the A1 (span greater than 500 mm (20 in)):

  • Kresnica right 587 m (1,926 ft) and left 587 m (1,926 ft)
  • Pekel right 448 m (1,470 ft) and left 448 m (1,470 ft)
  • Preloge right558 m (1,831 ft) and left 558 m (1,831 ft)
  • Škedenj I. right 466 m (1,529 ft) and left 563 m (1,847 ft)
  • Ločica right 849 m (2,785 ft) and left 869 m (2,851 ft)
  • Šentožbolt right 410 m (1,350 ft) and left 541 m (1,775 ft)
  • Petelinjek right 622 m (2,041 ft) and left 634 m (2,080 ft)
  • Blagovica right 446 m (1,463 ft) and left 426 m (1,398 ft)
  • Verd right 620 m (2,030 ft) and left 586 m (1,923 ft)
  • Ravbarkomanda right 591 m (1,939 ft) and left 533 m (1,749 ft)
  • Črni kal right 1,046 m (3,432 ft) and left 1,048 m (3,438 ft)
  • Bivje right 575 m (1,886 ft) and left 563 m (1,847 ft)

    • The Črni Kal Viaduct is the longest viaduct in Slovenia.

    References

    A1 motorway (Slovenia) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA