The 11-kilometre section runs from Rupa near the border with Slovenia to Jurdani. The length of the highway from Rupa to the Matulji junction, where the road connects to a two-lane Rijeka ring road, is 16.3 kilometres.
Opening the road, PM Sanader said European politicians today considered Croatia as a country that was very advanced in terms of road construction. Speaking about the possibility of continuing the construction of the highway to Zuta Lokva, Sanader said it was not possible to do everything that had to be done in just a few years' time.
"I expect Slovenia to continue building the highway on its side of the border," Sanader said, adding that at his recent meeting with Slovene Prime Minister Janez Jansa the Slovene side said it could appreciate the importance of this issue, but that it had to consider national priorities.
The Minister of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development, Bozidar Kalmeta, said that the construction of a dual carriageway on the Rijeka ring-road would start by the end of this year.
Present at the opening ceremony were also Croatian Highways CEO Mario Crnjak, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County head Zlatko Komadina, Deputy PM Jadranka Kosor, Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and Culture Minister Bozo Biskupic.
The construction of the Rupa-Rijeka highway section cost 670 million kuna. Twenty-three facilities were built along the section: a tunnel, an interchange, ten flyovers, eight underpasses, two crossings for animals and two viaducts. The highway will be connected to the pan-European corridor running towards Venice and Milan and to Ljubljana and further to Austria.
The section will be opened to traffic on Friday and the road toll for cars will be five kuna.