Croatia is starting construction of the final section of the motorway from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, and it appears the motorway route will bypass the territory of neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and use the EU-funded Pelješac Bridge, which will connect the far south of Croatia to the rest of the country and the EU from 2022.

This is according to the response Euractiv received from the state-owned Croatian Motorways Company (HAC), which announced a tender for constructing two sections of the 100-kilometre motorway from the town of Metković to Dubrovnik.

These are two sections totalling just over 20 kilometres, from the village of Rudine to Mravinjac, both to the west of Dubrovnik. HAC estimates that the first two sections could be completed by the end of 2027.

For the third section, which includes the western entrance to Dubrovnik, HAC says that the tender for this part of the motorway could be announced in 2026, and the works should be completed in 2029.

The section from Rudine to the western entrance to Dubrovnik is 28 kilometres long. Of this, as many as 19 kilometres are in viaducts and tunnels, according to HAC.

“This part of the motorway, from Rudine to Dubrovnik, will be connected to the existing A1 motorway at the Metković junction via the Pelješac bridge. The documentation for the motorway construction from the Metković junction to the Pelješac bridge is currently being prepared,” HAC said.

HAC adds that tenders for the construction of this section are expected in three years. The project to connect Croatia’s southernmost motorway should be completed by 2030.

This would end earlier plans to connect Dubrovnik to the rest of Croatia and the EU via a motorway through neighbouring Bosnia.

The Dubrovnik region is an exclave surrounded by Bosnia and Montenegro on the mainland and the Adriatic Sea to the west. These borders are the result of the long existence of the ancient Republic of Dubrovnik (Ragusa), which, to avoid a direct border with the competing Republic of Venice, which ruled Dalmatia, insisted at the end of the 17th century that the town of Neum belonged to the neighbouring Ottoman Empire.

The borders of the former Republic of Dubrovnik and the Ottoman Empire now coincide with the Croatian-Bosnian border, so Neum belongs to Bosnia and is its only access to the sea. However, Neum divides Croatian territory in two, leaving Dubrovnik and its area territorially separated from the rest of Croatia and the EU.

Until the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, built by the Chinese company CRBC, traffic to Dubrovnik went through Neum. However, after constructing the Pelješac Bridge and the access roads, the traffic now passes through Croatian territory, avoiding border crossings and long waiting times.

Despite the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, the question of the motorway route to Dubrovnik remained open, and there was still talk of a motorway connecting Dubrovnik to the rest of Croatia and the EU via Bosnia.

At the same time, there were (at least) two variants of the motorway through Bosnia – one in the hinterland of Neum and the other from Metković in Croatia to the town of Čapljina in Bosnia and on through Popovo Polje in eastern Herzegovina, to which access roads would connect Dubrovnik. Both options included border crossings, as Croatia is a member of the EU and Schengen, while Bosnia is not. In the summer months, when Dubrovnik is overcrowded with tourists from all over the world, this would mean traffic jams.

The Pelješac Bridge will open to traffic on 26 July 2022 and is one of Croatia’s most important investment projects since it joined the EU.

According to Croatian transport expert Ivan Dadić, the section connecting Dubrovnik to the rest of Croatia and the EU through the territory of Bosnia would be a better option than building a motorway across the Pelješac Bridge and Croatian territory.

“The motorway should be built in the hinterland of Dubrovnik, through Popovo Polje in Bosnia and Herzegovina. That would be a better option because Dubrovnik is already burdened with heavy traffic, and Croatian territory is narrow in that area,” Dadić told Euractiv, adding that Bosnia would also “one day be in the EU”.

(​Adriano Milovan | Euractiv.hr)

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