Montenegro has opened another major road-development front with prequalification for the 10.5km Smokovac–Tološi motorway section.
The route is planned with four traffic lanes, emergency lanes and complex structures including bridges and a twin-tube tunnel.
Bridges and tunnel structures are expected to account for roughly 20% of the total alignment, making the project technically more demanding than its length alone implies.
The section matters because it addresses one of the most congested transport areas around Podgorica.
As traffic volumes increase, connections between the existing motorway, the capital and the coastal network are becoming more important to both domestic mobility and freight.
The procurement also broadens Montenegro’s infrastructure market beyond the Mateševo–Andrijevica section.
Multiple motorway packages moving through tendering and construction at the same time create a much deeper demand pipeline for contractors, designers, geotechnical specialists, tunnel equipment, bridge systems and project management.
This can strengthen domestic subcontracting opportunities but also increase competition for skilled labour.
The project’s urban proximity raises additional complexity.
Construction near Podgorica requires careful management of existing traffic, land acquisition, utilities and environmental constraints.
The commercial opportunity is significant precisely because these technical requirements increase the specialised content of the project.
The tender also signals that Montenegro is attempting to develop the motorway system as a network rather than treating Bar–Boljare as an isolated corridor.
Better integration around the capital can improve the economic return of motorway sections already built by increasing actual usage and reducing bottlenecks on connecting roads.
The Smokovac–Tološi package is therefore emerging as one of the next important infrastructure procurement markets in Montenegro.
