The A4 section of the motorway from Draženci to the border crossing Gruškovje-Macelj is still considered as the bottleneck of the highway network. There, drivers have to continue their journey on the main road for approximately 10km. Many have been waiting on a highway connection through the Podlehnik and Videm municipalities at Ptuj for years. DARS says they will start constructing it next year.

One could in theory drive via highway all the way from Hamburg in northern Germany, via Maribor to Zagreb and continue towards the south, but that ends in Ptuj. The Slovenian highway network, in addition to the coastal tunnel Markovec, is still missing the 13 kilometer stretch between Draženci and Gruškovje.

The Mayor of Videm in Ptuj explained that they have been struggling to get a highway for decades now, while hordes of vehicles drive on the main road that passes through Videm. He noted that this is also problematic from a traffic safety point of view. That stretch of the road had namely claimed 40 human lives so far.

The project director, Bogdan Vrezner said that work will get underway in the beginning of next year. He explained that DARS had purchased more than 95% of all land needed and noted that they are expected to also obtain a building permit for the first part of the highway, that is, to the rest stop Podlehnik.

The fact that a highway connection across the Gruškovje-Macelj border crossing with Croatia has still not been established is baffling, seeing as it is the second most burdened by traffic congestion. More than 9 million people have passed through the border crossing last year alone.

T. M., RSi