Croatia postpones completion of final section of Budapest-Adriatic motorway

Travellers eager to hit the Adriatic coast will have to stay patient a little longer. Although final work is underway, the long-awaited connection between Hungary’s M6 motorway and Croatia’s A5 won’t be completed by early summer as previously hoped. The latest timeline now points to the end of July.

On 2 May 2024, Hungary opened a new 20-kilometre stretch of the M6, running south between Bóly and Lippó. This new section brings the Adriatic Sea closer than ever for drivers, leaving only a few kilometres on the Croatian side to finish the two-lane link. However, despite contractors claiming construction is in its “final phase,” the handover date keeps slipping.

The project was originally scheduled for completion in April but was later pushed to early summer. According to Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ivan Anušić, speaking recently in Beli Manastir (Pélmonostor), the connection will finally open by late July. Anušić emphasised that the opening of the north-south European 5C corridor would drive new investment, speed up freight traffic, and attract more tourists, sparking regional economic growth, PécsAktuál wrote.

The completed project will mark a significant milestone: it will finish the Croatian section of the 702-kilometre transport corridor linking Budapest to the Adriatic coast. This final five-kilometre stretch comes with a hefty price tag of nearly EUR 46 million (over HUF 18.5 billion), funded by Croatia with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The segment includes eight bridges, the longest of which measures 318 meters, crossing the Magyarbóly-Pélmonostor railway and the Karasica stream.