Major bridge is completed, but currently it does not lead anywhere.
The bridge over the Drava River at Petrijevac, which is part of the A5 motorway has been nearly completed. After three years of works, construction workers have left the site. “We still have some minor works which will be completed within about twenty days”, said Robert Španović, the chief engineer on the construction site, reports Glas Slavonije on September 23, 2016.
Osijek and Slavonia have been given a truly fascinating construction project. The length of the span is 420 metres, and together with viaducts on both the Slavonia and the Baranja side, the bridge has the total length of 2.5 kilometres. Since it is part of a motorway, drivers will pass it in less than a minute and a half. Still, it could be called the Slavonian Golden Gate. “This was not an ordinary construction site and this is no ordinary bridge. Together with the Krk and Maslenica bridges, and with the future Pelješac Bridge, this is a truly unique construction”, said Španović.
The only thing left to be done on the bridge is to draw lines and other marking, but that will have to wait for a while. Unfortunately, this bridge is currently inaccessible for regular vehicles, and it does not lead anywhere.
On the southern side, from the Josipovac junction, the construction of a motorway section in a length of 3.5 kilometres is currently underway. It should be completed by the summer of next year. And, on the other side of the river, at the section to Beli Manastir in Baranja just an ordinary road will be built in the future, instead of an actual motorway. It will be widened and turned into a motorway only when “the conditions are met” – which means when the number of vehicles increases and when financial resources for the construction are secured.
From Beli Manastir to the Hungarian border and then to Mohacs, where (for now) ends the Hungarian part of the highway, construction will be done in phases. Both countries are looking into possibility of financing the construction of these sections with money from EU funds. However, that will further slow down the implementation of the whole project.
