Importance of highways in Serbia and pan-European corridors

One of the most important systems in this part of Europe are the highways in Serbia on the corridors E70, E75 and E80.

With the appearance of internal combustion engines, the network of roads intended for road traffic began to branch out, both in Europe at the end of the 19th century and in Serbia itself at the beginning of the 20th century. In some over 100 years, the network of roads in Serbia has grown to over 45,000 kilometers, of which the status of state roads is about 16,000 kilometers.
Roads are categorized as follows:
State roads of the first order, the so-called highways, have started to be built more intensively in Serbia in the last ten years, although the history of highway construction in Serbia is connected to the second half of the 20th century. The first section of the highway in Serbia, in  Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at that time, was opened back in 1970. It was a little more than 9 kilometers long and connected Belgrade with Batajnica. Later, more precisely in 1975, that section was built in the semi-profile of the highway to Novi Sad, on which the longest bridge in Serbia is still built today, the Beška bridge over Danube river. The construction of the full profile highway between Belgrade and Nis lasted for a full eight years, in the period from 1977 to 1985, when it was finally possible to reach it from Nis to the Serbian capital in just over 120 minutes by car and  up to 180 minutes by bus. Currently, Serbia is covered with about 950 kilometers of highways in full profile, with the announcement of a significant expansion of the network in this category.
State roads of the second  order are also included in the list of European roads that have a total length of about 4,500 kilometers. The state of Serbia has an ambitious plan to improve all roads motorways category. 
State roads of the third, fourth and fifth order are municipal and intercity roads intended mainly for the local population and form the remaining road network in Serbia of almost 40,000 kilometers
Highway network in Serbia
In Serbia, the network of highways is the most concentrated around the Serbian capital – Belgrade. This is where the pan-European corridors E70 and E75 intersect. Besides Belgrade, the big hub of the highway network in Serbia is the city of Nis, where the E75 and E80 corridors intersect.
List of highways in Serbia
Currently in the Republic of Serbia there are 5 roads that belong to the category of highways Koridori Srbije
The A1 highway, 610 kilometers long, which is also the longest road in Serbia,  covered by the highway and belongs to the pan-European corridor E75. In the north, it starts from Hungary, more precisely from the Horgos  border crossing, and ends at the border with the Republic of North Macedonia at the Presevo border crossing. This is the oldest highway in our country with the longest bridge in Serbia, the bridge over the Danube near Beska in the length of 2,205 meters, which is also the highest bridge. The height of the bridge over the river is 68 meters. The longest tunnel is the Manajle tunnel between Predejane and Vladicin Han, whose length is 1,808. meters. The two largest loops are also located on this highway, near Dobanovci and near Bubanj Potok, which is currently still under construction, with the announcement of opening for traffic by the end of 2022. The price of tolls for this complete section for cars is 2,120 Serbian dinars (RSD) or 18.5 EUR. The entire length of the highway is quite decently covered by gas stations Gazprom, OMV, Lukoil, Mol, Eko, etc, restaurants Mc Donalds, KFC as well as those with local cuisine, hotels and resorts. The only place on the A1 highway where you can turn in the opposite direction without leaving the highway is near the Hotel Nais near city of  Nis, where there are also, in both directions two  Gazprom petrol stations equipped with shops, parking and wireless internet.
The A2 highway named after Miloš the Great, after one of the most important Serbian princes in history, is the second most important road. The planned route of this highway is from the city of Belgrade to the border with the Republic of Montenegro, in a total length of 258 kilometers. Currently, the first section from Belgrade to Požega, 118 kilometers long, has been built and put into operation, while the section from Požega to the border with the Republic of Montenegro, more precisely to the Boljare border crossing, is only announced at the request for construction. The final section of this highway is one of the most demanding for construction, during which over 30 tunnels and more than 20 bridges will have to be built, which is the most expensive for the construction of all highway sections in Serbia. The price of tolls for the already built part from Belgrade to Preljina for this section for cars is 430 RSD or 4 EUR.
The A3 highway is one of the oldest highways in Serbia, 92 kilometers long, which is part of international highway Belgrade-Zagreb. It belongs to the pan-European corridor E70. It starts from
Belgrade, mostly passes through the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and ends in front of the border Batrovci crossing, to the Republic of Croatia near the town of Sid. The price of tolls for this section for cars is 420 RSD or 4 EUR.
The A4 highway is a highway that connects the city of Nis with the border of the Republic of Bulgaria – Gradina, it is long 105 kilometers and was fully completed and put into operation in 2019. Belongs to pan-European corridor E80. It is part of the international highway Nis-Sofia. Average time arriving from Nis to Sofia out of season is just over 120 minutes  It’s interesting the fact that it was built on a route that was used in Roman times. The name of the road at the time was „Via Militaris“ which was used to connect Central Europe and the Balkans with the Middle East and
Constantinople. In the direction from Nis to Bulgaria, there are only two gas stations, Eco near Nis  nearby toll station Nis-East as well as at the very end of the highway, 500 meters before the border crossing Gradina. There are currently none in the opposite direction, but at least two gas stations  will be installed in coming period. One of the most beautiful views that can be seen from the highways in Serbia is near the Bancarevo tunnel with a breathtaking view of the northern part of Suva planina. The price of the toll for this section for cars is 420 RSD or 4 EUR.
The A5 highrway is a motorway whose construction is planned in the near future, and will have the task of connect the A1 and A2 highways from Pojatw to Preljina. Almost the entire course of the future highway will move along  riverbed of Zapadna Morava river, after which  as the local corridor got its name – Moravski corridor. The planned length of this highway is about 120 km. According to the project, there will be construction of  78 bridges. Completion of works on this section can be expected by the end of 2024.