The €248 million tender covers nearly 40 kilometers of motorway and the construction of 36 new structures. Bids will be opened on September 8, and traffic will be maintained with two lanes in each direction during works.
The project to widen the motorway between Zagreb and Karlovac is entering its decisive phase. Hrvatske autoceste (HAC) has launched a tender with an estimated value of €248 million, and bids from potential contractors will be opened on September 8, 2026. According to current plans, construction work is expected to begin the following year, in 2027.
This is a historic undertaking for Croatian infrastructure, as this section will become the country's first motorway with three lanes in each direction. The need for expansion is clearly evident from traffic data: the Zagreb-Karlovac section carries an average of around 40,000 vehicles daily, while in summer that figure reaches as high as 67,000.
The project covers a section nearly 40 kilometers long, on which as many as 36 new structures will be built, including bridges, viaducts, underpasses, and overpasses. The planned duration of works is 730 working days, and the contractor will be required to work 24 hours a day, in three shifts.
Particularly demanding will be the works on the Kupčina and Kupa-Kupa bridges and the Orlovac viaduct, alongside which entirely new structures will be built. Despite the scale of the works, the motorway will not be closed during construction. Traffic will be maintained at all times with two lanes in each direction, and from June 15 to September 15, no works that would impede the smooth passage of vehicles will be permitted.
For residents of Karlovac and the surrounding area, the key change concerns the existing interchange. It will be completely removed, and the new Karlovac interchange will be built approximately one kilometer closer to Zagreb, at a location between the Orlovac and Drežnik viaducts. This structure will serve as a completely new entrance to the city from the motorway.
In addition, entirely new interchanges at Stupnik and Ašpergeri will be built along the route, the existing Jastrebarsko interchange will be reconstructed, and the construction of an internal Lučko interchange is planned for the needs of Hrvatske autoceste.
