[SLO] Slovenian Highways • Slovenske avtoceste

[Verso]

The A3 highway connects the A1 with the Italian border on route between Ljubljana and Trieste. Its length is 12 km (8 mi) and all of it is motorway. It was completed 10 years ago. I took the pictures 3 days ago.

Interchange Gabrk. If coming from Ljubljana, you don't need to slow down.


On the A3 (also E61, E70 and Corridor V).




Ljubljana - Trieste = 3.7 €.




Just 11 km to Trieste. But what the hell is wrong with my hand? Do I have Parkinson's disease or what??






About 2 km from here there's border crossing Fernetiči/Fernetti, between Slovenia and Italy. Right after the border you either continue straight forward to Trieste on a 2-lane SS58 road, or turn right, for Venice, onto the RA14 motorway, which after 2 km merges in the RA13 motorway, and that one soon merges in the A4 motorway.

[Nephasto]

Originally Posted by Fern

I.e. you blocked out an entire lane That's why I don't understand how that can be a safe system

That's very comon... not to have a hard shoulder when you have an additional lane for slow vehicles.
It's that way in Portugal too.... when can see it for example on the steeper slopes of A1, a bit to the north of Torres Novas, or near Leiria.

I have 2 photo's of it, taken on A1, near Leiria:





I hope our slovenian friends don't mind me putting this 2 photo's of the portuguese counterpart of your A1.

[Fern]

I'd never noticed it. That's probably just a way of saving money! IMO motorways should have a hardshoulder all throughout their length in case a car breaks down.

[ChrisZwolle]

Just 11 km to Trieste. But what the hell is wrong with my hand? Do I have Parkinson's disease, or what??

Your camera just focused on something else, sometimes, that happens, i have it too sometimes. But i still like your pics

[Alex Von Königsberg]

Yeah, you did an awesome job, Verso! Slovenian highways look mint. I can't wait until I hit European straßen this summer

Just to add my $0.02 about the hardshoulder driving. In mountain areas of Oregon and California, trucks with heavy load often drive on the shoulder with hazards on. I don't know if they are required to do so or if it is simply a mere courtesy, but it really makes life easier for passenger cars especially on a 2-lane motorway.

[snupix]

Fantastic photo series...!

[Verso]

The Vipava Highway connects the A1 with the Italian border by Nova Gorica / Gorizia. It's 43 km (27 mi) long, of which 14 km is motorway (built mostly in 1996), 18 km 4-lane expressway (built in the last decade) and 10 km is 2-lane road. Its completion is scheduled for the next year. The motorway and expressway technically don't differ (also both are designated as H4), the only difference is that there's often bora wind along the expressway, therefore the speed limit 100 km/h. The motorway has a recommended speed 100 km/h, but it's allowed to drive 130 km/h. I took the photos 3 days ago.

Interchange Nanos (previously called Razdrto). We're turning right, onto the G12.


Ljubljana - Nanos = 2.7 €.




The road is very winding and quite deteriorated (not seen on this picture). The future expressway's been under construction for quite some time now, because it's full of viaducts and tunnels.




Stalking a Montenegrin.





I miss destination Venice.












Motorway.


I tried to drive the recommended 100 km/h for a minute - unbearable!










Prepare 1.5 €. Altogether Ljubljana - Gorizia = 4.2 €.


Exit for the border town Nova Gorica.




1 km ahead there's a border crossing between Slovenia and Italy, called Vrtojba / Sant'Andrea. In Italy you continue on a rather crappy road officially designated as RA17 ("RA" stands for "raccordo autostradale" = motorway connection), although it's neither a motorway, nor an expressway; it's a 4-lane road with a speed limit 80 km/h, emergency stops and limited access. But it soon merges in the A4 motorway.

[edolen1]

Haha, total Ljubljana - Nova Gorica is actually €2.7, because nobody actually goes through Bazara, only transit traffic and trucks, everybody else gets off at Vogrsko..

Nice pics!

[Rebasepoiss]

What are those thingies() between the central crash barriers?

[ChrisZwolle]

Those are made so you aren't bothered with headlights of other cars/trucks in the other direction. You see this sometimes in Europe, but i haven't seen it yet in my country.

Why is Údine signed first, and not later nearing the border? They could remove the "Italy" destination and replace it with a normal Italian city (even like Venezia).

[edolen1]

The ones saying Italija are older, since that section was built much earlier than the section which has signs saying Udine. You can also see that the one saying Italija doesn't have a road number on it, which is always put on those signs nowadays.

When they'll get changed they'll say Udine and everything..

[Verso]

Originally Posted by edolen1

Haha, total Ljubljana - Nova Gorica is actually €2.7, because nobody actually goes through Bazara, only transit traffic and trucks, everybody else gets off at Vogrsko..

Haha, you're right! Then I'll just write "Ljubljana - Gorizia". Yeah, I remember a sign pointing to Ljubljana in that roundabout in Nova Gorica near your house :P in some other direction than Italy, and I thought, why the hell are they in different directions already in Nova Gorica?

Btw, edolen, do you remember how the motorway (from 1996) was designated before we got the expressway? I don't think it was H4, I don't think we had these H* designations back then.

[edolen1]

It didn't have a designation, it was just a very short section from the border crossing to Šempeter.. I'm not sure of the designation when it was extended to Selo, but when it was extended to Ajdovščina it definitely had H4.. I think with Selo it still didn't have a designation, cuz that was back in the time the A1 was still the A10..

[Nephasto]

Originally Posted by Fern

I'd never noticed it. That's probably just a way of saving money! IMO motorways should have a hardshoulder all throughout their length in case a car breaks down.

Well... a standard 3 lane motorway in portugal will have the following measures in width:

inner shoulder + 3 x 3,75m lanes + 3m outer shoulder

If it's a 2 lanes motorway with additional lane for slow traffic its:

inner shoulder + 2 x 3,75m lanes + 3m(or 3,25m... not sure) outer lane for slow vehicles +1m outer shoulder

[ChrisZwolle]

that are quite wide lanes.

We use 3,5m, but 3,2m is common in Urban areas.

We even have extra lanes which are only 2,5m wide. So that lane is hardly used.
emergency lane = 3m, but that varies from 0 - 5m in some places.

[Nephasto]

Yes... usually the motorway lanes are wide here in Portugal, being of 3,75m.
Only when the base speed of a stretch is under 100km/h or when there is a stretch with much traffic (like a stretch with 4 lanes in each direction) do we use 3,5m.

In Spain for example, they don't use 3,75m, like in the Netherlands... it's 3,5m all the way. And they use 2,5m emergency lanes, which are a bit narrow.


You have 2,5m extra lanes in there?! What for? A truck won't be able to safelly use a 2,5m width lane!

[edolen1]

The lanes in Slovenia are 3.75m wide, with the hard shoulder 2.5m wide. Exit lanes are 3m wide, though, and lanes for slow traffic are 3m wide as well.

Sections with a 100 km/h speed limit are 3.5m wide, though.

[x-type]

nice pics!! finally somebody made a photo of Bazara toll plaza, but it dissapointed me totaly, it looks, khm, crapy.

[ChrisZwolle]

Originally Posted by Nephasto

You have 2,5m extra lanes in there?! What for? A truck won't be able to safelly use a 2,5m width lane!

Trucks are also no allowed to use those lanes.

They are build as a temporary widening, since all those greenies stop roadimprovement. This 2,5m lane is in the city of Zwolle, i think it is the narrowest lane we have, other extra lanes are wider, and a speed of 100km/h is allowed, but here, only 80 is allowed when the lane is open.

Here are some pics:








you can see this extra lane (we call it a "plusstrook") it ridiculously narrow, so it is barely used. And the barrier is immediatly adjacent to it.
I didn't solve the traffic jams either.

[Fern]

Originally Posted by Nephasto

Well... a standard 3 lane motorway in portugal will have the following measures in width:

inner shoulder + 3 x 3,75m lanes + 3m outer shoulder

If it's a 2 lanes motorway with additional lane for slow traffic its:

inner shoulder + 2 x 3,75m lanes + 3m(or 3,25m... not sure) outer lane for slow vehicles +1m outer shoulder

Yeah you're right, I think I've seen that system in some parts of some motorways like the A24.
In the UK and Ireland the standard lane width is 3.65m and apparently they are reducing it to 3.5m in some motorways, I assume because they want to add more lanes but there's not enough space.