One road connects two border crossings: Vučić on a tour of the works PHOTO/VIDEO

One road connects two border crossings: Vučić on a tour of the works PHOTO/VIDEO

The first works on the construction of the ''Smile of Vojvodina'' expressway began in mid-December.

The "Smile of Vojvodina" highway will be about 186 kilometers long and will take about 50 minutes from Bački Breg to Vrbas, and one hour and ten minutes from Vrbas to Srpska Crnja.

The expressway is designed for a speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

On the part of the route, from Sombor to Kikinda, the construction of 46 bridges (over canals and road passages), 34 overpasses, five underpasses and 35 culverts is planned.

The construction of 12 interchanges is planned on the expressway route: Sombor, Kljajićevo, Sivac, Crvenka, Kula, Vrbas Zapad, Vrbas Sever, Vrbas East, Vrbas E75, Srbobran Sever, Turija and Kikinda East. The construction of 13 surface roundabouts is also planned. The Minister of Construction, Goran Vesić, said earlier that this expressway is not only important for Serbia and our citizens, but also for Hungarians and Romanians, since it will be connected to the network of Hungarian and Romanian highways and roads.

Vesić said that with the recategorization and expansion of the Bački Breg border crossing and the completion of the highway on the Hungarian side, we will be connected to the highway Budapest - Pécs near Mohács. "We need to build and reconstruct 10,000 kilometers of roads in order to be able to boast. We will have to maintain every newly built road," said Vučić.

He stated that his desire was to invest five billion for the construction of local roads and added that he did not do so because the expenditure would affect the weakening of public finances.

"And that's why I demanded at all costs that we go to two billion, that the rate of public debt does not endanger us, that it never exceeds 60 percent of the public debt, that Maastricht level," Vučić pointed out.

According to him, a lot of money is currently being invested in road maintenance in Serbia. The whole project should last 5 years, it should be finished by 2028, he confirmed.

"At the most, they will work from the beginning of March. The whole project in five years, to be completed by the end of 2028. But it is a whole road of 190 kilometers, for us it is the Moravian Corridor of 112 kilometers, just so you know what kind of project this is. It has to be serious expropriation, especially around Vrbas, where everything will not be simple. But also around Bečej, Novi Bečej, Srbobran and Kikinda. There will be a lot of work, section by section. It is important that we raise Sombor as soon as possible, Srbobran. It will mean a lot to people", he said.

He also announced that "we will make the biggest crossing in Europe at Horgoš".