European route E73

European route E73 forms part of the United Nations International E-road network, connecting Hungary and Slavonia to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Adriatic Sea in the vicinity of the port of Ploče. This 679-kilometre (422 mi) route is also designated as the Pan-European Corridor Vc, a branch of the fifth Pan-European corridor. The route largely consists of two-lane roads with at-grade intersections, although in the 2000s, about a third of the route was upgraded to motorway standards. The remainder of the route is currently being upgraded in all the countries spanned. The longest part of this corridor goes through Bosnia and Herzegovina and is widely touted as a road instrumental to the development of the country. As such, and given its geographical location, the road has occasionally been dubbed as the kičma Bosne (eng. The spine of Bosnia). The road also serves as the shortest connection of the eastern and southern parts of Croatia.