Highway through Belgrade Now Officially Motorway – Speed Limit 100 Kilometers per Hour

The highway through Belgrade, from the Bubanj Potok interchange to the Belgrade interchange, has officially become a motorway, as the Decree of the Republic of Serbia by which this traffic route is recategorized has come into effect.

As Damir Okanovic, the director of the Traffic Safety Committee, explains for the Blic daily, the official name of this traffic route is now Motorway M11, it once again has an emergency lane, and the speed limit is 100 kilometers per hour.

Okanovic reminds that, in October 2023, the Government of Serbia recategorized this traffic route from the highway status into the status of a IIB-grade state road, which is the lowest-category state road.

– This allowed the movement of bicycles, pedestrians, tractors, carts, work machines and mopeds on that road and also, the emergency lane thereby stopped existing. From midnight, we once again have an emergency lane and a ban on the movement of all these participants in the traffic that I’ve just listed, and the difference between a highway and a motorway is that the maximum allowed speed is now 100 kilometers per hour – explains Okanovic.

He also adds that this traffic route, that is, the new motorway, does not go to the Dobanovci Interchange, but to the Belgrade Interchange, which is ahead of the Dobanovci Interchange.

He also points out that, on certain sections of this traffic route, there are still sections where the traffic signalization indicates that speeds of over 100 km/h are allowed, so the question is how this will be regulated in practice, that is, whether the drivers will be penalized if they drive faster, or if they comply with the traffic signs.

Okanovic explains that this is a conflict between the legal and the practical situation in the field – the traffic signalization runs counter to the law.

– The government has said that it’s a motorway, and the signalization is different compared to what the motorway envisages, so there is a conflict between what’s in the field. Regarding the drivers, they have the right to conduct themselves in line with the traffic signalization. Each participant in the traffic has the right to believe that the traffic signalization is in line with the law and other legal acts, even if it runs counter to the law on certain sections. Considering that, the participants in the traffic should not suffer any consequences. It is important to note that, as far as the courts, the prosecutor’s office and the traffic police are concerned, it is now a motorway and they should act in line with the law – Okanovic says for Blic.

When asked if there is a legal deadline for the signalization to be harmonized, he says that it has to be harmonized with the law, but that there is no deadline for the harmonization.

He notes that the decree has come into effect at the right moment, seeing how good weather is forecast, so there was a fear that people would ride bicycles and mopeds in droves on this traffic route, which they had been allowed to do in the previous six months.

The City of Belgrade is not in charge of this traffic route. Instead, it is still the responsibility of the PE Roads of Serbia.

KBS Srpski komitet za bezbednost saobraćaja Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

Traffic Safety Committee

Government of Serbia

Damir Okanović

highway through Belgrade

Bubanj potok interchange

Belgrade interchange

Dobanovci Interchange Belgrade

recategorization of highway through Belgrade