Pan-European Corridor VIII

Pan-European Corridor VIII
Pan-European Corridor VIII highlighted in red
Route information
Length:	1,500 km (900 mi)
Major junctions
Start end:	Durrës (Albania)
End end:	Varna (Bulgaria)
Location
Countries:	Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria
Highway system
Pan-European corridors

The Corridor VIII is one of the Pan-European corridors. It runs between Durrës in Albania, at the Adriatic coast, and Varna, at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The corridor follows the route: Tirana/Durrës/Vlore - Elbasan - Skopje - Pernik - Sofia - Plovdiv - Burgas - Varna.

Route description

The road starts in Albania at either Durrës (SH4) or Vlore (A2), both situated on the Adriatic coast. It intersects at Rrogozhine (SH7, SH3) and runs towards Elbasan. It then crosses the border with Republic of Macedonia at the Ohrid lake and then runs north to Tetovo mainly as a 2-lanes single-carriageway. The section between Ohrid and Kicevo will be upgraded to a motorway. A2 motorway runs between Tetovo and Skopje, and A1 motorway between Skopje and Kumanovo.

Between Kumanovo and Radomir, Bulgaria, it runs again as a 2-lanes single-carriageway. From Radomir to Pernik it is upgraded to a 4-lane dual-carriageway. Close to Pernik, the route joins Lyulin motorway (A6) for about 20 km to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. After passing through the Sofia Ring Road, the route joins Trakia motorway (A1) for 360 km (220 mi) to Burgas, bypassing Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Yambol on the way. At Burgas, the route turns to north, running along the Black Sea coast mainly as a single-carriage road (I-9). The route joins Cherno More motorway (A5) for 10 km before reaching its final destination – Varna.

See also

• Via Egnatia