Highways in Bulgaria

Highways in Bulgaria are dual carriageways, grade separated with controlled-access, designed for high speeds. In 2012, legislation amendments defined two types of highways: motorways (Bulgarian: Aвтомагистрала, Avtomagistrala) and expressways (Bulgarian: Скоростен път, Skorosten pat). The main differences are that motorways have emergency lanes and the maximum allowed speed limit is 140 km/h (87 mph),^[1] while expressways do not and the speed limit is 120 km/h (75 mph).^[2] As of October 2024, a total of 884 kilometers of motorways are in service.

Generally, there are no toll roads in Bulgaria, and instead a vignette is required, except for municipal roads. Two bridges − New Europe Bridge and Danube Bridge are tolled, both at Danube border crossings to Romania. However, introduction of toll system to replace the vignettes is under way as being a more fair form of payment.^[3] In April 2016 the road agency launched a tender for implementation of an electronic toll collection system for vehicles heavier than 3.5 tonnes^[4] and the contract was signed in January 2018.^[5] Since January 2019, the electronic vignette is in charge instead of the sticker. Later, a toll system for vehicles over 3,5 tons got introduced.