The National Expert Council has approved the detailed spatial development plan for the final unfinished section of the Sofia Ring Road – a step that has been awaited for more than two decades. The news was announced by the Mayor of Sofia, Vasil Terziev, on his Facebook profile.
"The approval of the PUP is not a gift to Sofia. It is the fulfillment of a commitment made and an important step in the overall work on a project that the state and the municipality owe to the people," the mayor wrote.
According to him, in 2025, at his initiative, institutions were brought together at one table, resulting in an agreement between the Sofia Municipality, the "Road Infrastructure" Agency, and the Health Investment Company. The document defines specific responsibilities and deadlines for the infrastructure around the National Children's Hospital and the related section of the Ring Road.
Terziev specified that work is currently underway on three separate spatial development plans related to the infrastructure around the Children's Hospital – for the adjacent street, for a large parking lot with an underground connection, and for the electrical substation. The mayor also recalled the process of expropriating 21 properties necessary to ensure transport access to the hospital. According to him, procedures for 14 of them have already been completed, and the owners have received compensation. The municipality is also preparing the connecting infrastructure, as well as its links to the Sofia Ring Road, he added.
Terziev reminded that the Ring Road is part of the national road network and the country's strategic transport links. It carries transit passenger and freight traffic, and the road itself connects key motorways and is part of the trans-European transport network. This final section is directly linked to access to the future National Children's Hospital, which will be visited by children and families from all over Bulgaria. According to the mayor, this makes the completion of the road important not only for Sofia, but a commitment of national significance. He pointed out that the preparation of technical designs, expropriation procedures, securing funding, and the construction itself are still to come, promising that the municipality will monitor compliance with the committed deadlines.
Earlier, on September 17, the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Arch. Ivan Shishkov, stated in a morning television segment that on Sofia Day, the government would review and approve the detailed spatial development plan for the final section of the Ring Road – from "Bukston" district to the "Struma" motorway. According to the minister, this is the last obstacle before the actual construction of the site begins.