| Country: | EUR |
| Type: | E |
| Route: | 79 |
| Length Km: | 1300 |
| Map: | E79 en new.png |
| Direction A: | North |
| Terminus A: | Miskolc, Hungary |
| Direction B: | South |
| Terminus B: | Thessaloniki, Greece |
| Countries: |  Hungary Romania Bulgaria Greece |
European route E 79 is a road part of the International E-road network. It begins in Miskolc, Hungary and ends in Thessaloniki, Greece, also running through Romania and Bulgaria. The road is 1300km (800miles) long.
The E 79 routes through four European countries:
Miskolc (Start of Concurrency of) - Igrici
Igrici (End of Concurrency of) - Görbeháza
Görbeháza - Debrecen - Berettyóújfalu
Berettyóújfalu (Start of Concurrency of) - Nagykereki
Borș - Oradea (End of Concurrency of)
Deva bypass
Deva - Petroșani - Târgu Jiu - Filiași
Filiași (Start of Concurrency of) - Craiova (End of Concurrency of)
Craiova - Calafat
Vidin - Montana - Vratsa - Botevgrad
Botevgrad - Sofia
West (Western arc)
Sofia - Pernik – Blagoevgrad
Blagoevgrad - Kulata
Promachonas - Serres - Thessaloniki
The Hungarian section of E79 shares parts of its path with other E-roads, such as E60, E573 and E71.[1]
The Romanian section of the road is mostly new asphalt, as can be seen on the map with Romanian road quality.[2] Although only in the region of 500km (300miles) the road itself has many curves as it goes directly through 2 major mountain groups of the Carpathian range: the Apuseni Mountains and the Meridionali Mountains. With a 50km/h restriction when passing through the many minor villages, and a large part of its length in the Carpathian mountains (about 40-50% of its length in Romania), the average speed is generally in the 50–60 km/h range. Especially in the mountainous parts, the road can be considered as more suitable for tourism than for high speed traveling, but as it has been in a very poor state up until a couple of years ago, touristic infrastructure is still poorly developed (road side hotels, restaurants). Plan ahead if you consider staying overnight in hotels on this route (best options are outside of the cities, with few exceptions - Oradea, Deva - but there are not so many decent locations for accommodation).
Since 2012, work has begun to improve the quality of this road:
Contracts were signed in late 2012 to improve this section. Status of work progress is December 2017, by section, North to South:
- Oradea-Beiuș (cca. 60 km): This section has been recently re-done completely. There may still be areas with poor or no road markings, so travel carefully especially during the night.
- Beiuș-Ștei (cca. 28 km): This section has been recently re-done completely. There may still be areas with poor or no road markings, so travel carefully especially during the night. Constructor: AZVI/AZCALE (cca. 100 mil. RON without VAT, contract 5R13, progress in December 2016: >90%).[3]
- Ștei-Vârfurile (cca. 33 km): Currently under construction on about 20-30% of its length. There still are 3 traffic lights in this sector. Work is progressing normally and the sector should be finished by the end of 2021. First contractor: SC Antreprenor Construct Mod SRL (progress status: 70% in December 2016). Contract was terminated and rest of the work was re-auctioned. Second constructor: Asocierea DRUM ASFALT S.R.L. & VAHOSTAV - SK a.s. & TRAMECO S.A. & ILE VIOREL CONSTRUCT S.R.L. (contract signed in May 2020).
- Vârfurile-Ionești (cca. 14 km): This mountainous section is still under construction (2–3 km still in heavy construction), with some parts in good condition (asphalt), but with no road markings, so travel carefully during the night. On many climbs, now there are 2 lines going up hill and one line down, so passing heavy traffic is possible. Original contractor was VIALES Y OBRAS PUBLICAS (cca. 43 mil RON without VAT, contract 5R11, progress in 2015: 29.76%). Contract cancelled in September 2015. Re-auctioned recently. Auction won by SC SYLC CON TRANS SRL / HIDROSTROY AD --- 55.945.649,16 RON without VAT. source
Starting with Ionești, the road is good until as far south as Calafat (400 km), with only very small portions still under construction.
- Ionești-Brad (cca. 20 km): PORR (cca. 65 mil. RON without VAT, contract 5R10b, 100% finished in December 2017).
- Șoimuș-Brad (cca. 30 km): SELINA (105 mil. RON without VAT, contract 5R10a, progress status in December 2017 - 100% - section accepted as completed by the national road company).
Initial financing sources for all contracts was: 50% from the state budget, 50% loaned from the European Investment Bank. On 4 December 2013, the Romanian Ministry for European Funds included this project on the list of infrastructure projects financed by the EU. The Ministry sent to the European Commission a request to evaluate the financing of this sector, for a total of 210 million Euro (of which 142 million Euro from the EU through the ERDF mechanism).[4]
See also: Highways in Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian section of E79 spans nearly 400km (200miles) from the North Bulgarian city of Vidin, connecting the Calafat–Vidin Bridge across the Danube River and straight southwards towards Bulgaria's capital Sofia. The road has a moderately good surface, it is constantly maintained and repaired and well signed with directing signs in Bulgarian and in English. Most of the way from Vidin to Botevgrad, the road is two-lane tarmac road following the natural relief of the landscape. There are sections where 3 lanes for overtaking slow-moving traffic are available. Rest stops and parking spots near the road are also available. The Bulgarian Traffic law prescribes a 50km/h in most residential areas coinciding with the route of the road and not more than 90km/h on the section of the road outside living areas. Currently the Vidin-Montana motorway and Montana-Botevgrad expressway are under construction with planned speed up to 120km/h.
From Botevgrad to Sofia, E79 joins Hemus motorway (A2). At the Bulgarian capital Sofia it follows Sofia Northern Bypass motorway and then Sofia Ring Road. From Sofia all the way to the border check point with Greece, E79 joins Struma motorway (A3) with the exception of the Kresna Gorge pass, which still use the old 2-lane standard road. The Bulgarian Traffic law allows speeds up to 140km/h on motorways unless otherwise stated.
There are no restrictions to trucks driving in the weekends (except when temps rise above 38°C) so they pose additional road hazard particularly high when driving at night. Traffic is usually heavy on weekends and overtaking has to be done swiftly and without risk, minding the other participants in the traffic.
At night, motorcyclists are required (and that is strongly advisable for their own safety) to use high-visibility vests.
The Greek Section of E79 has a length of about 110km (70miles). After crossing the Bulgarian-Greek border entering Greece, the road joins A25 motorway up until the junction with the A2/E90, which then provides direct access with Thessaloniki's Ring Road motorway and onto Chalkidiki, for travelers heading south.