The 1,471-metre-long tunnel was partially constructed, but a bridge and another tunnel leading from it are still nowhere to be seen.
Spending taxpayers’ funds in vain is not anything unusual in Croatia, but a recent example from Omiš is still shocking. Almost 300 million kuna were spent on a tunnel which has never been completed. The tunnel has been standing unused for the last six years, reports RTL on July 27, 2018.
It was announced as an impressive infrastructure project, worth 280 million kuna… That was exactly six years ago, but today the tunnel, which was supposed to bring a solution to the traffic jams in Omiš and become a section of a larger bypass road, literally leads to the abyss.
The bypass was supposed to help the town mitigate the problem of enormous traffic jams. The 1,471-metre-long tunnel was dug, and the next step was to construct a bridge and another tunnel, but everything stopped. The money has been spent elsewhere, and the supposed solution for traffic problems has been turned into a mockery.
“This is all fun for them, maybe they think Batman lives there,” says Frane. “This juncture is the worst in Omiš, but there is no money – nothing can be done,” adds Ante.
The town authorities admit that it is a shame and promise that the negotiations about the resumption of the construction have already begun. “After the summer vacations are over, we expect there will be a public tender for the construction of the bridge over the Cetina river and for a connecting road. The tender should be completed by the end of the year if everything goes according to the plans. The works should begin sometime next year,” says Ivo Tomasović, the mayor of Omiš.
The famous Omiš bridge was supposed to be a fast traffic connection for a town which sees major traffic jams every day, especially during the tourist season. It is the only town on the Croatian coast in which the main coastal road, Jadranska Magistrala, passes through the town centre.
“It takes me half an hour to reach my home, three hours to reach Split, and Makarska… It’s terrible,” says Marko from Omiš.
“With the bridge over Cetina, we could regulate the traffic and perhaps close roads in the town centre during certain periods,” says Mayor Tomasović.
The people of Omiš are ready to accept any solution since the current one has led them to nowhere – quite literally.
Translated from RTL (reported by Maja Oštro).
