The state road D1 () is a national highway in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. It is a one-lane highway that spans from

Macelj Macelj () is a location in northern Croatia bordering on Slovenia, encompassing a hilly forest and several villages. There is an official border crossing in Macelj, and the end of the A2 highway. The villages are administratively divided into G ...

border crossing in the north via

Krapina Krapina (; ) is a town in northern Croatia and the administrative centre of Krapina-Zagorje County with a population of 4,482 (2011) and a total municipality population of 12,480 (2011). Krapina is located in the hilly Zagorje region of Croatia ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

Slunj Slunj is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and Plitvice Lakes National Park, on the meeting of the rivers Korana and Slunjčica. Slunj has a popu ...

Gračac Gračac (; ) is a municipality in the southern part of Lika, Croatia. The municipality is administratively part of Zadar County. Gračac is located south of Udbina, northeast of Obrovac, northwest of Knin and southeast of Gospić. Climate Since ...

Knin Knin () is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka (Croatia), Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagreb and Split, Croatia, Split. ...

Sinj Sinj () is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. As of the 2021 Croatian census, 2021 census, the population was 23,500 people, of which 10,800 inhabited its urban core. Sinj is k ...

, ending in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

. It is long overall. Before the A1 and A2 dual carriage motorways were completed in 2005 and 2007, respectively, the D1 was probably the busiest road during the summer in Croatia as it connected the northern border as well as the city of Zagreb with the tourist resorts on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. Since then, the traffic has waned significantly, but the D1 remains relevant as an alternative to the tolled highways.

Route description

North of Zagreb the D1 is mostly parallel to the A2 motorway up to the Krapina interchange, connecting to a number of the A2 interchanges directly or via connector roads. It also runs parallel with railway tracks in some sections running through hilly terrain. A part of the D1 state road is concurrent with other routes: the A2 motorway between

Zaprešić Zaprešić () is a town in Zagreb County, in Croatia. It has a population of 19,644 inhabitants in the city proper, town proper, with 25,223 in the administrative area. The town's metropolitan area, which encompasses the seven neighbouring munic ...

and Jankomir interchanges, the A3 motorway between Jankomir and

Lučko Lučko is a settlement in the Novi Zagreb - zapad district of the city of Zagreb, located south of the Sava and southwest of the city center. Lučko is located near the Lučko interchange that connects the A1 motorway, the Zagreb bypass and t ...

interchanges, the D3 state road between the A3 motorway Lučko interchange and

, the D6 state road in Karlovac, the D33 state road in

and the D219 state road in

. Parts of the D1 have been upgraded to expressway (''brza cesta'') status. Currently two sections of the D1 are considered as such, since they comprise dual carriageways or are currently expanded to four traffic lanes: * an urban expressway in

, between the A1 motorway Karlovac interchange and Mostanje * an expressway in and near

, between the A1 motorway Dugopolje interchange and Bilice roundabout in Split itself The northern part of the D1 in Karlovac is actually a slightly lower road category because there are several intersections with traffic lights which slow the traffic down. Parts of the road in

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

have

climbing lane A climbing lane, crawler lane (UK), or truck lane, is an additional roadway lane that allows heavy or underpowered vehicles to ascend a steep Grade (slope), grade without slowing other traffic. They are typically used by large trucks or semi-trail ...

s. The road, as well as all other state roads in Croatia are managed and maintained by

Hrvatske ceste Hrvatske ceste (lit. ''Croatian roads'') is a Croatian state-owned company pursuant to provisions of the Croatian Public Roads Act ( enacted by the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia. The tasks of the company are defined by the Public Roads A ...

, a state-owned company.

Traffic volume

Traffic is regularly counted and reported by

, operator of the road. The D1 AADT and ASDT (average summer daily traffic) figure variations observed south of

are attributed to tourist traffic to various regions of

coast in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

region of

Road junctions and populated areas

Maps

Sources

External links