August the 9th, 2026 – There are an array of very particular issues causing the infamous summer traffic jams up and down Croatia, with queues stretching for kilometres on the motorways.
The awful queues at Lučko, stoppages near Sveti Rok and kilometre-long traffic jams towards the coast have not spared Croatian motorways this year. Nor have they ever so far. Poslovni reports that Hrvoje Ordulj, Director of the Traffic Sector at HAC (Croatian Motorways), spoke as a guest on HRT’s programme Studio 4 about summer delays being practically unavoidable, but that drivers often make the situation worse by disregarding traffic rules.
“These long queues will remain unavoidable for some time yet. We all want to get to the coast and we all want to return from the sea at the same time,” Ordulj stated, before pointing out that the problems aren’t only at the toll booths themselves, but are a result of the very configuration of the roads and the large number of vehicles that pour southwards through Croatia at the peak of the summer season.
Why do traffic jams form at Lučko and Sveti Rok?
Ordulj explained that at Lučko as many as seven or eight traffic lanes merge and then narrow down to only two. “You can’t reduce traffic from seven lanes to two and expect everything to function normally. A particular problem lies with the Sveti Rok tunnel, where traffic sometimes has to be temporarily stopped for safety reasons. Traffic in the tunnel mustn’t come to a total stop. If an accident or breakdown occurs, the entrance to the tunnel is automatically closed,” Ordulj explained.
He added that HAC operators continuously monitor the situation on the motorways and, when they assess that traffic density is too high, temporarily close the entrance to the tunnel in order to prevent dangerous situations.
“Foreigners respect the limits, croatian drivers much less”
One of the topics of the conversation was also drivers’ traffic culture. Ordulj openly admitted that Croatian drivers often ignore speed limits, especially in roadworks zones. “As a rule, you’ll notice that drivers with foreign registration plates respect the speed limits, unlike a lot of Croatian drivers who overtake until the last moment and cut in front of other vehicles,” he said.
He particularly appealed to drivers to respect dynamic signalling and the rules on forming an emergency corridor. “When traffic stops, the driver can’t possibly know whether it is an accident or just another ordinary jam. That’s why the emergency corridor should be formed immediately,” he concluded.
