6,000 Cars a Day Through New Tunnel Connecting Dalmatian Hinterland with the Coast

Croatian Motorways (Hrvatske Autoceste) say that they have been pleasantly surprised 35 days after the ‘Sveti Ilija’ tunnel connecting the Imotski region in the Dalmatian hinterland with the Makarska Riviera opened.

More than 208,000 vehicles have so far passed through the 4,249 metre tunnel through the Biokovo mountain, bringing in over 3.5 million kuna (480,000 EUR).  Around 6,000 vehicles a day are passing through, 30% more than planned to make the tunnel feasible.

The tunnel, which connects Zagvozd with Baska Voda, has a ‘pay as you go’ toll system, costing commuters 20 kuna (2.66 euros) for automobiles, 12 kuna (1.60) for motorcycles and 66 kuna (8.80 euros) for heavy trucks. Pre-paid electronic payment device (ENC) users receive a 50% discount. The tunnel reportedly cost over 500 million kuna (close to 100 million USD) to construct.