Project

Background and history

The partnership between Road Infrastructure Agency and Egnatia Odos SA has been established over the previous programming period with the successful implementation of the AccessNet project, which was co-financed by the ERDF through the European Territorial Cooperation Programme Greece Bulgaria 2007-2013. The project CrossBo has been developed in close cooperation with all partners valorizing the outputs of AccessNet project in order to improve further the accessibility and mobility between the two countries. Therefore, the project idea underlies the necessity of creating new and upgrading old road infrastructure networks.

The project CrossBo

The project ‘Aiming at Improving Cross - Border Accessibility / CrossBo’, is a strategic project funded by the Interreg V-A Cross Border Cooperation Programme Greece – Bulgaria 2014-2020, which is co-financed by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund. The Interreg V-A programme is the most appropriate financial instrument for combating the insufficient quality of road infrastructures in the cross border area that are challenging the accessibility and mobility of the population of the two countries.

The main project objective is the improvement and development of the cross-border infrastructure for better connection to - Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T network), thus contributing to the overall strategic goal of the programme. In particular, the project will increase the mobility and accessibility in the cross border area through the construction of a new cross border transport link to improve the operation of the TEN-T axis Plovdiv-Smolyan-Rudozem-Xanthi and the existing transport network in the cross border area. The complete operation of a transport system between Greece and Bulgaria is expected to strengthen the direct access, the cross-border mobility, the easy and safe circulation of goods, services and people in the cross border area as well as the economic development, cohesion and cooperation in both countries. More precisely, it is expected that the construction and operation of the new Border Crossing Check Point Dimario -Rudozem and the new access road as well as the improvement of the existing cross border transport infrastructures will ensure more efficient access to Greek summer resorts and to ski resorts in Pamporovo while at the same time will also favorite the development of joint tourist packages thus enhancing accessibility, mobility and communication between people on both sides of the border.

The project is divided into 4 major sub-projects and is funded with a total budget of 38.802.558,00 €, of which 85% is funded by the ERDF and 15% by national funds of Greece and Bulgaria.

Partners

The project is implemented by three partners from Greece and Bulgaria.

From the Greek side Egnatia Odos SA (Greece) participates as the Lead Beneficiary of the project and is responsible for the overall management and coordination of the project. From the Bulgarian side, the Road Infrastructure Agency and the Regional Administration of Smolyan participate as Project Beneficiaries 1 and 2 respectively.

The project duration has been extended up to the end of year 2023.