Prilep–Bitola highway: parts due to open next year, full completion targeted for 2029

The Government says parts of the Prilep–Bitola highway will open in stages from next year, while the full corridor is targeted for completion in 2029.

Aleksandar Nikoloski, the Minister of Transport, told reporters that construction gained stronger momentum over the summer and that the work schedule was reviewed at a meeting with the contractor. He added, however, that it will take several more years from the first usable kilometres until the route functions as a complete motorway.

The road is being built by the American–Turkish consortium Bechtel and Enka and is one of four sections included in the large corridors 8 and 10d contract signed in 2023 by the then-SDSM-led government. The Prilep–Bitola section is about 40 kilometres long and its financing package is estimated at roughly 260 million euros.

Phased openings and remaining work

Authorities say the route will be opened in phases so motorists can use finished parts as they are completed, but the ministry warns that full operational status across the whole 40 km will not be immediate. Officials expect further construction seasons will be needed to complete interchanges, bridges and other infrastructure before the entire stretch can be classified as a motorway.

The contract that covers Prilep–Bitola also includes the sections Tetovo–Gostivar, Gostivar–Bukojčani and Trebenishta–Struga–Kafasan, making the project part of a broader upgrade under corridors 8 and 10d.

The deal has been a source of political tension since its signing. At the time, the opposition VMRO-DPMNE labelled the agreement "scandalous"; paradoxically, the same party now leading the government is continuing the works. SDSM leader Venko Filipche criticised the current administration's spending, saying: "the money is being directed to, as he says, criminal tenders and projects that citizens have no interest in, and the authorities are trying to impose the narrative that all political options are the same."

With the government signalling phased openings from next year and an overall completion target of 2029, planners and residents along the corridor say they will watch construction progress closely as sections become available to traffic.

Photo: press material from the event