Sljeme has always been a top attraction for those of us who live in Zagreb. The peaceful rolling hills coated in thick forests with bike paths and hiking trails snaking between the trees are the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle (and indeed the pollution) of the Croatian capital city which sits just below. Could the construction of the Sljeme cable car enhance its touristic lure?
From Medvednica nature park to the ski slopes of Sljeme, the entire area acts much like Marjan hill does for Split – Sljeme and its nature are the lungs of the City of Zagreb. However, Sljeme isn’t free of controversy despite the peace and quiet it offers, and that’s all down to the will-it-won’t-it saga of the Sljeme cable car, which once operated on the mountain.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 11th of December, 2019, on Tuesday, Zagreb City Assembly’s lawmakers gave the “green light” to ZET for a massive loan totalling 537 million kuna for the construction of the much talked about and long awaited Sljeme cable car.
Initial construction of the brand new Sljeme cable car began earlier this year, and recent footage and pictures show that much of it has indeed already been built.
Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić announced back in June this year that he would try to finish the Sljeme cable car in time for Zagreb’s city day, which is May the 31st next year, when the Remetinec roundabout, which has also had its fair share of problems, could also finally be completed.
At that time, he said that its construction was being carried out in four phases – the reconstruction of the Mihaljevac-Dolje railway line, the development of all of the necessary project documentation for the new Sljeme cable car, the procurement of equipment for the Sljeme cable car and then of course, the actual construction of the cable car.
As stated, the powers that be in Zagreb have given the cable car’s construction the “green light” by approving ZET a loan for 537 million kuna and a repayment period of fifteen years, the opposition does not dispute that the Sljeme cable car is definitely needed, but considers it questionable whether the money for it is actually there, and another question is whether or not the enormous loan which has now been approved can be repaid at all.
Watch a video of how the works are progressing below:
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