June the 22nd, 2025 – The construction of the most expensive motorway in Croatia, leading from Metković down to Dubrovnik in the extreme south of Dalmatia, has been delayed.
As Sinisa Malus/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, with the construction of the most expensive section of motorway in Croatia, the country’s motorway network is set to extend by 47 kilometres of road. Delays and issues have thus far dogged the process.
The construction of the most expensive Croatian motorway is set to expand the road network the next few years. The road will be located in southern Dalmatia and will link Metković to Dubrovnik. The start of the works on the section from Dol down to Dubrovnik will depend on the completion of public tenders, but it’s already clear from the start that it will be delayed.
There have been multiple ups and downs associated with the start of the construction of the most expensive motorway in Croatia, i.e. the section between Rudine and Osojnik. Last week, it was announced in the public procurement procedure that the documentation for the first two sub-sections would be altered. These are the Rudine – Slano and Slano – PUO Mravinjac routes.
The document published by Croatian Motorways (HAC) states that the deadline for submitting bids for both sections has been changed to the 17th of July. The explanations state that the controversial questions have now been answered and the documentation has been supplemented for both sub-sections. For the first subsection, the architectural designs of RCNUP Slano and VP Slano were submitted, while for the second, the cost estimate was corrected and the necessary clarifications for the execution of the works were added. The calculations have led experts to call this the most expensive motorway in all of Croatia.
During a recent visit to Dubrovnik, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met with the Prefect of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Blaž Pez, and the Mayor of the City of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković. During the visit, projects scheduled across the Dubrovnik area were discussed. The mention of important road projects that should be implemented in the area naturally came up.
Of particular note were the road between Brijesta and Orebić, the connection between Dubrovnik and the Airport, and the completion of the motorway down to Dubrovnik, known as the most expensive section in Croatia. This involves the construction of a total of three subsections between Rudine and Osojnik, one of which alone costs more than a staggering 200 million euros.
However, significant delays have already occurred at the very beginning of the project of the construction of the most expensive motorway in Croatia. The procedure for the first two sub-routes was slowed down at the beginning of the year by complaints submitted to the State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedures (DKOM) regarding changes in the documentation. Though unfavourable, that should not have hindered the launch of the procurement for the last section. For the third and final section, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition ruled back in April that an environmental impact assessment procedure wasn’t required. The terrain for construction is difficult, so it isn’t really surprising that the first section alone could be built for 201 million euros, while, according to some estimates, all the sub-sections could exceed one billion euros in total.
It is estimated that the entire project should cost around 1.2 billion euros. This is not surprising when 19 of the 28 kilometres of the section from Dol to Dubrovnik will consist solely of viaducts and tunnels.
In addition to that, 19 kilometres of motorway from Metković down to the Pelješac Bridge and 15 kilometres of connecting roads need to be built. As such, if the estimates prove to be correct, the construction of a kilometre of motorway should cost 25.5 million euros, and that’s excluding the connecting roads. This is significantly more than the most expensive road constructed in Croatia so far, which is the three-kilometre-long D403 road, which cost 20 million euros per kilometre to build. The construction of this new, most expensive motorway in Croatia should make traffic jams a thing of the past. It will also reduce the number of traffic accidents that have become more frequent in recent years since the traffic density has increased after the construction of the Pelješac Bridge.
Experts believe that the most important aspect of the construction of this motorway is certainly traffic safety. It should be noted that an objective problem lies in the sheer complexity of the terrain on which this road will be built. The project documentation for the section that would include southern Dalmatia in the Croatian motorway network consistently describes “difficult terrain”.
The start of these complex works therefore depends on the completion of public tenders and the obtaining of all of the necessary permits. In the most optimistic scenario, the works were supposed to start this year and be completed in 2029. However, given that HAC is already stuck on the very first step, it seems that the whole story will be quite delayed. The earliest date for the start of the works is now scheduled for the first quarter of next year.
