€70 million section of Istria Y- motorway opens to traffic

ZAGREB, Nov 5 (Hina) – A 12 kilometre section of the Istria Y-motorway from Pazin to Cerovlje, valued at €70 million, opened to traffic on Thursday in the presence of Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic, and the director of the Bina-Istra motorway operator, Dario Silic.

The entire, 28-kilometre section from Pazin to the Ucka tunnel includes the construction of 31 facilities, overpasses and viaducts as well as a new road rest facility, while the sub-section opened on Thursday has 13 infrastructure facilities – three large viaducts and a new, closed drainage system.

“The next section will extend to the Vranja junction while the remaining 16 kilometres will be completed before the next tourism season, four months ahead of schedule,” Silic explained.

He added that the additional two lanes are exceptionally important from the safety aspect.

“The completion of the Istria Y-motorway will complete Istria’s integration into Croatia’s traffic system and this is just one stage of what awaits us in the  coming period.”

He recalled that the project is valued at about €160 million and that by the time the next tourism season starts the entire 28 kilometres of the section will be completed.

“A month ago the government adopted a decision for the completion of a second tube of the Ucka tunnel and all these projects together amount to €360 million, invested in Istria over a period of four years. That is a big thing for Croatia’s economy and for the construction industry because these projects have helped Croatian construction companies survive during these difficult times of the coronavirus crisis,” Minister Butkovic said.

Otvorena dionica punog profila #istarskogipsilona od Pazina do Cerovlja a do ljeta očekujemo i ostatak do tunela Učka. Osim toga, #VladaRH je donjela odluku o izgradnji druge cijevi tunela Učka a s radovima započinjemo sljedeće godine! pic.twitter.com/EcwbJxDhFM

— Oleg Butković (@OlegButkovic) November 5, 2020

He announced that works on the second tube of the Ucka tunnel would start within a month.

“Every kilometre of this road is an additional kilometre on the path to our joint progress,” acting Istria County Prefect Fabrizio Radin said.

Pula Mayor Boris Miletic said that slowly but surely the largest road project in Istria was nearing completion.

The Istria Y-motorway is the first road infrastructure project in Croatia based on the public-private model, with €800 million invested since its start.

The motorway is the main road on the Istria peninsula, with more than 10 million vehicles a year. In August the European Commission gave the green light to extend the concession agreement with the Bina Istra company, which was a precondition for the continuation of work on the motorway and the construction of the second tube of the Ucka tunnel.