October 28 (SeeNews) - Croatia has opened for traffic a new 6.4 km fast road section in the northern Krapina-Zagorje county worth some 145 million kuna ($21.6 million/19.5 million euro), the government said.
The new Zlatar Bistrica-Andrasevec section, located some 50 km north of Zagreb, will enable the quicker arrival of pilgrims to Zlatar Bistrica and to one of the most prominent shrines in Croatia, Marija Bistrica, which is only three kilometres away, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said in a statement on Friday when the new road was inaugurated.
The investment was made by national road operator Hrvatske Ceste, which has invested some 400 million kuna in building new roads in the Krapina-Zagorje county and 100 million kuna in overhauling existing ones in the past three years, Plenkovic said.
Transport minister Oleg Butkovic, who was also present at the opening ceremony, said that Hrvatske Ceste will receive a construction permit to continue building the road towards Marija Bistrica in the middle of 2020, after which a tender for its construction should be opened.
Marija Bistrica is the largest shrine of Virgin Mary in Croatia. Pilgrim routes, mountain hiking trails or bicycle routes from Zagreb, Varazdin and Krapina lead to Marija Bistrica.
(1 euro = 7.45408 kuna)