April the 10th, 2023 - The Peljesac bridge story was over last summer after the huge structure of strategic importance finally opened after a long wait, but what about the Peljesac bridge-Dubrovnik road?
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, from its very opening until today, slightly more than one million and 420 thousand vehicles have crossed the Peljesac bridge, bypassing the need to enter into and then back out of neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina when travelling to/from the extreme south of Dalmatia. There are currently many local guests spending time on the Peljesac peninsula who were brought closer to very south of Croatia by this historic bridge.
The Easter weekend also naturally brings bigger crowds, and on Friday alone about 50 percent more vehicles were registered. Ston, with its imposing walls and famous oysters, is an unavoidable stop for most tourists.
"Regardless of the fact that it isn't yet the tourist season, there are about 10 buses a day that come specifically to Ston for the sake of history, culture and gastronomy," said the head of the Ston Municipality to Dnevnik Nova TV.
For restaurateur Sveti Pejic, the Peljesac bridge opening increased his income: "In Ston, traffic in restaurants increased by 120 to 150 percent. When the Peljesac bridge-Dubrovnik road finally opens, traffic there will lessen, but Ston will continue to gain more and more importance."
At this moment, all traffic from the Peljesac bridge goes through Ston, which creates congestion and pressure during the summer, but that should be over soon. The opening of the Ston bypass was announced for before Easter, but that didn't happen. Nevertheless, HC hopes that everything will be ready for April the 20th this year.
"Works are currently underway to eliminate the observed irregularities, we expect that it should be finished during the next week. The testing out of the safety systems in the tunnels is also now underway. After that, we'll start the procedure for issuing a use permit,'' Ivica Tutman from Hrvatske ceste/Croatian roads told Nova TV.
The opening of the Ston bypass will also mean the end of the road connection project with southern Dalmatia, and the south of Croatia should be ready to welcome the tourist season with more people managing to arrive by other means than plane alone.
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