 | |
|---|---|
 | |
 E71 as Croatian A4 motorway south ofVaraždin | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 1,016 km (631 mi) |
| Major junctions | |
| North end |  Košice,Slovakia |
| Major intersections |  Emőd Budapest Zagreb KarlovacDugopolje |
| South end |  Split,Croatia |
| Location | |
| Countries |  Slovakia Hungary Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina[a] |
| Highway system | |
European route E 71 is a north-southClass-A intermediate European road route. It begins inKošice,Slovakia, passes throughBudapest inHungary,Zagreb inCroatia, and ends atSplit in Croatia on theAdriatic Sea coast. The total length of the route is 1,016 km (631 mi). The E71 mostly consists ofmotorways, though considerable sections are alsoexpressways or two-lane roads withat-grade intersections. Nearly all motorway sections of the E71 are tolled, using various toll collection systems includingelectronic toll collection (ETC) andticket systems. Individual segments of the E71 route are shared with several other European routes. The E71 section betweenKarlovac and Split is inconsistently physically signposted or marked on maps androute planning software. The E71 route has gradually been upgraded from a regular two-lane road to motorway standards since the 1970s; upgrades are still being carried out in some areas.
The European route E71 is part of theInternational E-road network, and is 989 km (615 mi) long, connecting parts of theSlovakian,Hungarian andCroatian hinterland to theAdriatic coast. The route is a Class A intermediate north-south road, mostly consisting ofmotorways, but also comprising two-lane roads withat-grade intersections. The E71 starts inKošice, Slovakia, and proceeds south towards Milhost' and the Hungarian border along the Slovak route 68. The Slovak section of the E71 is 18 kilometres (11 miles) long.[1][2]
The northernmost section of the E71 in Hungary connects the border crossing with Slovakia atTornyosnémeti, andMiskolc. It is signposted as route 3, and this section is a two-lane road with at-grade intersections. The Tornyosnémeti–Miskolc section isconcurrent with theEuropean route E79. At Miskolc, the E71 switches to theM30 motorway which takes it toEmőd, where the E71 switches to theM3 motorway and turns west towardsBudapest. The M3 carries the E71 route toGödöllő, where the E71 switches to theM31 motorway. The M31 in turn takes the E71 to the Budapest ring motorway signposted asM0 motorway, where the E71 is concurrent with the European routesE60 andE75. The M0 motorway carries the E71 (along with the E60 and E75) around Budapest to its western outskirts. The final leg of the E71 route in Hungary is theM7 motorway betweenÉrd just to the west of Budapest, viaSzékesfehérvár andNagykanizsa to theLetenye border crossing toCroatia. South of Nagykanizsa, the E71 is concurrent with theEuropean route E65. The Hungarian section of the E71 is 495 kilometres (308 miles) long.[2][3]
The E71 route through Croatia starts at theZrinski Bridge and theGoričan border crossing at the northern terminus of theA4 motorway nearČakovec and reachesIvanja Reka interchange where it defaults to the westboundA3 motorway and proceeds toLučko interchange, where the E71 switches to theA1 motorway. In that area the E71 reachesZagreb and connects to the city through a number of interchanges along theZagreb bypass. Along the three motorways, the E71 is concurrent with the E65, and in the A3 motorway section of the E71, the route is also concurrent with theEuropean route E70. The E71 route diverges from the A1 motorway atKarlovac interchange and switches to theD1 state road passing through Karlovac towardsPlitvice Lakes, switches to theD217 and reachesLičko Petrovo Selo/Izačić border crossing toBosnia and Herzegovina. It further specifies that the E71 runs throughBihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina and back to Croatian border, passing viaUžljebić border crossing andD218 state road toOtrić, where the E71 rejoins the D1 state road running toSplit via Podi interchange with the A1 motorway. All the Croatian state road sections of the E71 and the E71 sections in Bosnia and Herzegovina consist of two-lane roads with at-grade intersections except for the northernmost section of the D1/E71 concurrency running through Karlovac, and the final 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) of the D1/E71 concurrency between the Podi interchange (A1 motorway) and Split, both of which are executed as expressways. Southbound E71 traffic reaching Split defaults to theD8 state road.[2][4][5]
In Croatia, the A1 motorway is signposted as the E71 from Karlovac all the way south to theDugopolje interchange connecting to the Podi interchange of the D1, deviating from theUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) specification of the route. This is also observed on roads connecting to the A1 between Karlovac and Dugopolje, as well as on large proportion of maps and majorroute planning software. The E71 route through Croatia, conforming to the UNECE specification, is 448 km (278 mi) long, and the section in Bosnia and Herzegovina is 28 km (17 mi) long.[2][4]
Various sections of the E71 are tolled, using a range of toll collection systems.Motorways in Hungary aretolled using anelectronic toll collection (ETC) system with charges differing for various categories of vehicles and length of period when the e-vignette is valid. A notable exception is the M0 motorway of which some sections are not tolled.[6] Croatian motorways are also generally tolled, using aticket system. All sections of the A1 motorway are tolled, but those A4 sections south ofSveta Helena interchange and the A3 sections concurrent with the E71 are not tolled as they are a part of theZagreb bypass. As of August 2011, the toll charged along the Croatian section of the E71 route between various toll plazas at each motorway exit and two mainline toll plazas, varies depending on the length of route travelled and thevehicle classification in Croatia. The toll is payable in euros and by major credit and debit cards. A prepaid ETC system is also used.[7][8][9]
UNECE was formed in 1947, and their first major act to improve transportation was a joint UN declaration no. 1264, the Declaration on the Construction of Main International Traffic Arteries,[10] signed in Geneva on September 16, 1950, which defined the first E-road network. This declaration was amended several times before November 15, 1975, when it was replaced by the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries or "AGR", which set up a route numbering system and improved standards for roads in the list. The AGR went through several changes, with the last one, as of 2011, in 2008.[2] Reorganization of the E-roads network of 1975 and 1983 redefined the E71 designation previously associated withHanover–Bremen–Bremerhaven road and assigned it to Košice–Budapest–Zagreb route.[10][11] The same documents assigned the Zagreb–Bihać–Split section to the E59, as the E71 terminated in Zagreb at the time, however, the most recent revision of the E-network truncated the E59 in Zagreb, and transferred its former southern leg to the E71, extending the E71 considerably.[2]
Since the E71 route was first defined between Košice and Zagreb, efforts were made to improve the roads connecting the two cities to Budapest. In the 1970s, Hungary started construction of the M7 as its first motorway, and Zagreb–Karlovac section of the A1 motorway was completed in Croatia (within Yugoslavia at the time), representing the first sections of the present-day E71 to become a modern road traffic route, and the first modern motorways in Hungary and Croatia respectively.[12] Subsequently, the two motorways, as well as other along the route in Croatia and Hungary, were gradually extended towards national borders, as well as to bypass capitals of the two nations—Budapest and Zagreb.[13][14] Croatian and Hungarian motorways spanning the E71 route linked up in 2008.[3][15]
Currently, the E71 section in Slovakia now signposted as the route 68 is being upgraded to an expressway already designated asR4 expressway, while the Hungarian M30 motorway was scheduled to be extended north to the Slovak border. In the autumn of 2021 the M30 motorway opened for the whole length from the Slovak border to Miskolc. The R4 expressway was completed in February 2013 and the section betweenKošice south and theD1 was completed in September 2025.[1] As of August 2011, the Croatian section of the E71 south of Karlovac is not planned to be upgraded substantially as there already is the A1 motorway running parallel to the designated E71 route viaZadar rather than Bihać. The A1 section is even physically signposted as the E71.[4] Likewise, there are no plans to perform any upgrades to the E71 in Bosnia and Herzegovina in existence as of 2011. Still, there are proposals to upgrade the route, possibly connecting Bihać to Zagreb viaSisak rather than Karlovac, made from time to time in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Croatia.[16] The E71 route, especially its Budapest–Zagreb–Karlovac section was given further importance in June 1997 at thePan-European Transport Conference inHelsinki, when the section was made a part of thePan-European Corridor Vb, spanning Budapest andRijeka via Zagreb.[17]
The E 71 routes through four European countries:
Hungary
M30:Tornyosnémeti - Miskolc (Start of Concurrency of
E79) -MezőcsátM3: Mezőcsát (End of Concurrency ofE79) -Gyöngyös -Gödöllő
M31: Gödöllő -Budapest
M0: Budapest bypass (
E60
E73
E75
E77)M7: Budapest (E60E75) -Székesfehérvár (
E66) -Balatonszentgyörgy (
E661) -Nagykanizsa (Start of Concurrency with
E65) -Letenye (
E653)(Route officially goes throughBihać,Bosnia and Herzegovina, but is signed viaGospić,Croatia)
Bosnia and Herzegovina, but is signed viaGospić,Croatia
{{isbn}}: ignored ISBN errors (link). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on October 4, 2011. RetrievedOctober 11, 2010.
Media related toE71 at Wikimedia Commons