Croatian roads see an enormous amount of traffic during the warmer months in summer, with many tourists having driven from neighbouring and surrounding countries to spend time on the glorious Croatian coast and islands. With the capital gaining in popularity, the Zagreb bypass should receive a much needed third lane in time for 2020's summer season.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of February, 2020, by this year's tourist season, the Zagreb bypass should receive a third traffic lane to ease the pressure on the road. Croatian motorways (Hrvatske ceste) have embarked on a pilot project for that road, which is known as the busiest part of the Croatian motorway network.

According to Vecernji list, HAC says that by summer, they plan to turn the stopping point into a carriageway on the section of the road from Jakuševac to Ivanja Reka in both directions, that is, in the length of eleven kilometres, while the third lane would be 13.5 kilometres long, from Jankomir to Jakuševac, and that will be introduced after the tourist season.

HAC points out that the third lane on the Zagreb bypass will be constructed at its existing width, which means that the amount of investment will increase the flow rate by up to fifty percent.

The existing stop lane will be converted into a slow lane for trucks, the middle lane will be intended for trucks, buses and cars, and the left lane of the Zagreb bypass will be intended only for cars and buses. In the slow and medium lane, the speed limit will be 80 kilometres per hour, provided that in the middle lane, vehicles must travel at a minimum speed of 70 km/h in ideal conditions.

The speed on the left lane of the Zagreb bypass will be limited to 100 km/h. HAC says that the width at the narrowest part of the bypass is 10.80 metres, which is sufficient width to accommodate three traffic lanes plus side lanes.

The existing stop lane is 2.5 metres wide and will be expanded to 3.25 metres when converted into a lane. The existing lanes, on the other hand, are 3.75 metres wide, so the middle lane will be reduced to 3.25 metres and the left lane to 3.5 metres.

HAC explained that these widths are adapted to speeds in accordance with legal requirements. Horizontal, vertical and variable signaling needs to be adjusted for the introduction of the third lane, and the estimated value of these works on the part from Jakuševac to Ivanja Reka stands at 4.5 million kuna.

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