Učka expansion: Croatia’s most modern tunnel opens

Učka Tunnel (Photo credit: Jarba/e GNU Free Documentation License)

ZAGREB, 13 Sept (Hina) – A miracle of technology and a symbol of unity were the words used to describe the second tube of the Učka Tunnel, opened on Friday evening at a ceremony attended by PM Andrej Plenković, Transport Minister Oleg Butković, Bina Istra CEO Dario Silić and officials of Istria and Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties.

PM Plenković recalled at the ceremony the government session of 13 September 2018, held in Pula, at which a political decision was made to build the Istrian Y motorway as a dual carriageway and connect it to the Matulji interchange, noting that this project was just one of large infrastructure projects the government was currently implementing.

“The old tube of the tunnel will be renovated by the start of the next tourist season and a year later the Mirna Bridge and the Limska Draga Viaduct will be completed as a dual carriageway as will the highway section to Matulji,” Plenković said.

“The project is only a part of large infrastructure projects we have been implementing at this stage of Croatia’s maturity, democracy and development, with the speed of that development being felt across the country,” Plenković said.

Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković thanked the workers, designers and contractors involved in the project.

“There are few moments like this in a man’s life… one of them definitely happened two years ago, when we built…  Pelješac Bridge, and the second one is the opening of the second tube of the Učka Tunnel, one of the biggest infrastructure projects in more recent times,” the minister said, among other things.

Speaking of why the second tube of the Učka Tunnel was being opened in September, Bina Istra CEO Dario Silić recalled that in September 1995 a preliminary concession agreement for the project was signed, in September 2023 the new tube was bored and in September 1947 Istria was joined with Croatia.

“This project is not only a miracle of technology, it is a symbol of unity and vision, a result of persistent work, commitment and cooperation between many individuals and institutions in Croatia. The construction of the second tunnel tube will increase the level of safety and make the Učka Tunnel comply with the 2004 EU directive on minimum safety requirements for tunnels,” Silić said.

The new tube of the Učka Tunnel is 5.6 kilometres long and has 24 cross passages (12 for pedestrians and 12 for vehicles), which puts its total length at 6.5 kilometres, the most in Croatia. 

“One of the biggest challenges of this project was completing work within the deadline, with the existing tube being open to traffic. That is why this tunnel symbolises a victory over challenges, and is proof that when we work together, we can achieve amazing things,” said Silić.

Work on the second tube of the Učka Tunnel began a little less than four years ago, and the project cost more than €200 million, which the concession holder Bina Istra financed with a loan. The second tube is 5.63 kilometres long and is longer than the first tube, which is 5.06 kilometres long. At the end of the tunnel facing Istria the second tube is 100 metres away from the old tube, while at the other end, facing the region of Kvarner, the tubes are 25 metres apart. In the central part of the tunnel the biggest distance between the two tubes is 50 metres.

After the inauguration of the second tube, both tubes of the tunnel will be open to traffic for ten days, after which the old tube will be closed for renovation.