Not every road in Croatia makes sense…
No, we’re not recording a new version of the Talking Heads classic, we’re just doing an overview of a very “interesting” trend in Croatian construction industry.
Since its independence, Croatia has built a respectable road infrastructure. We have one of the best highways in South East Europe, many parts of the country were revitalised by better connections, but while we were in this road construction euphoria, many roads and bridges were built that turned out to lead – nowhere!
Take for instance the bridge over Korana River, the now famous “Vukelić bridge” (named after the Minister in power at the time). It is 304 metres long and it cost us 50 million kuna. But there’s a problem, it has no access roads on either side. So, this bridge in the middle of nowhere has been deteriorating for the last 6 years and it was supposed to be a part of the express road Mostanje – Vukmanički Cerovac. There are no plans for the completion of this road and no money either.
Omiš tunnel is also one of the examples of this trend. It is a part of the Omiš bypass, much needed road that has been under construction for three decades and that is currently waiting on yet another study to even see when and where the construction will continue even though more than 300 million kuna was already spent on the road. So, while everyone is deciding on what to do with this desperately needed road, we have a tunnel that can only be used if you have a parachute handy given that it opens straight over an abyss.
We could go on and on since there are numerous examples of taxpayers money spent on projects that were not only finished but never had complete documentation to begin with. And as time goes by, funds needed for their upkeep and maintenance are slipping through our hands even though they could have been used for much better purpose.
