November 27, 2022 - Five months after the Pelješac Bridge opening, and after we've last asked the same question, today we have some more answers regarding the Ston Bypass.

A key segment of the road which will connect Dubrovnik area with the rest of Croatia (and hopefully, the rest of the Schengen area) over the Pelješac Bridge is the so-called Ston Bypass. It has not been finished yet, although the bridge itself has been fully operational for quite a while now. The bridge itself has proven to be a success, but the opening of the bypass will make it even more popular, as currently the trucks and buses are still not allowed to go over the bridge on their way to Dubrovnik. The reason for that is that the heavy vehicles would currently need to go through Ston itself, which is a problem that gets solved once the bypass is open.

Ahmet Kalajdžić reports today for Slobodna Dalmacija that 90 per cent of the work has been completed. At the construction site where, at first glance, only a few workers can be seen, he spoke with Ivica Tutman from Hrvatske ceste. Construction works will be completed by the end of this year, but he emphasized that the equipping of the Ston bypass includes operations that are not of a constructive nature. We expect that this will also be completed by the end of February, followed by a technical inspection and the obtaining of permits and soon the bypass will be put into circulation. He points out the quality of the work performed so far. The Zaton Doli junction will be completed by mid-December, when the traffic lights will be removed and traffic on the state road D8 will follow without light regulation. The junction is already largely asphalted, but there is still some work to be done that depends on possible extreme weather conditions. On that part of the Jadranska magistrala, the complete normalization of traffic will follow by Christmas at the latest, and after the completion of the entire Ston bypass in February, technical acceptance is expected, which is a prerequisite for obtaining a use permit and putting that section into traffic.

There are currently more than 220 workers on the construction site, most of whom are inside the tunnel, and the people in charge highlight that the only factor that can slow them down currently is the weather. The design solution of the Ston bridge does not include the installation of a windbreaker, as the intensity of the wind here is not very low, but the wind probably does not have an intensity that can significantly endanger traffic. The predicted speed in the tunnels and on the bridge is limited to 80 kilometers per hour. 

Despite some scepticism by the locals in Ston, caused by worries of a significant increase in summer traffic, the tourist season has successfully ended. The Ston municipality head, Vedran Antunica, says that they estimate that 70 per cent of the approximately one million vehicles that crossed the Pelješac Bridge passed through the centre of our municipality. This is a lot for our Ston, but I can say that everything went smoothly and without any delays. We are completely satisfied with the work done by the Traffic Police. We know that the huge crowds that we had through Ston will no appear next year, with the completion of the construction of the Ston bypass and that in the future only those who want to visit the cultural and historical sights of Ston will come to us. We can already see the positive effects because the opening of two larger restaurants is already being prepared, but we still lack quality accommodation. However, there is a strong interest in the construction of these capacities in Prapratno and the Marčuleti bay, and along with the removal of the soil piled under the Ston Bridge, the road to Kobaš will finally be improved, Antunica announces.

July 27, 2022 - The Pelješac Bridge is open, but what about the Ston bypass and other access roads?

A famous proverb says, "Donkeys will not cross the bridge," but Joško Antunović's donkeys from Kuna Pelješka will cross the Pelješac Bridge. They will go to competitions and exhibitions throughout Croatia after many years since driving cattle through the Neum corridor was forbidden. Thus, donkey trips became less frequent and were made exclusively by the Ploče-Trpanj ferry. 

"We can hardly wait for this bridge; they will certainly cross it," Antunović told Jutarnji List and added: "This is the last round of hay I will drive on the Ploče-Trpanj ferry. Unfortunately, hay cannot be transported via Neum; the paperwork is complicated, so we go by ferry, but it is too expensive."

Joško Antunović and many other residents in the area are thrilled about the Pelješac Bridge, and they will be even happier when the Ston bypass and the Ston bridge are completed. Those ten kilometers will complete the road connection project in southern Croatia.

The Pelješac Bridge stole the glory from the access roads, bridges, viaducts, and tunnels on which no less significant construction works with three bridges, two viaducts, and four tunnels were carried out and are still ongoing. In addition, two viewpoints and crossings for agricultural machines for the local population were also built. Twenty-five kilometers of access roads have been completed, and another smaller section of 7.5 kilometers from Prapratno to Ston, the so-called Ston bypass, built by the Greek company Avax, remains unfinished. On the other hand, the section constructed by Strabag is nearing completion.

The endlessly long public procurement procedure, bureaucratic entanglements, and numerous appeals slowed down the access road project.

"In addition, the Brijesta junction has been completed, which includes a viaduct of some two hundred meters, where the connecting road descends to the local road in Brijesta," engineer Davor Perić explained.

On the mainland, Strabag built an underpass at the Duboka junction and an underpass on the D8, and on the peninsula, among other things, the Kamenice Tunnel, the Doli Viaduct, the Dumanja Jaruga Bridge 1, the Dumanja Jaruga Bridge 2, the Debeli Brijeg Tunnel, and the Zaradeže underpass.

According to the contract, Strabag Hrvatska is in charge of a route with a total length of more than ten kilometers, of which 1,300 meters on the mainland and 9,220 meters on Pelješac, the value of which is HRK 478.3 million.

The longest among the tunnels is the 2.4 km Debeli Brijek, which first broke ground in December 2020. However, while Strabag was successfully working on its sections, Avax ran into problems on the Ston bypass. First, there was a problem with bringing machinery and equipment from Greece, then the pandemic and labor shortage came, and then financial problems at Avax followed. So the construction of the "Prapratno" viaduct, the "Polakovica" tunnel, the "Supava" tunnel, and the "Ston" bridge, with a total value of HRK 511 million, was delayed. Still, they should be finished by the end of this calendar year.

Avax was also affected by the escalation of material prices, especially concrete and steel, which made adjusting the already agreed prices necessary. According to information from Croatian Roads, there will be no price corrections on the Pelješac Bridge because the material was purchased before inflation and disturbances in the world markets, and modifications could occur for access roads. However, such an increase should not exceed 10 to 15 percent of the currently contracted price of the works.

Until the Ston bypass is completed, heavy trucks and trucks transporting dangerous goods will not be able to travel over the Pelješac Bridge so as not to congest Ston and possibly endanger the environment. They will continue to operate the old way via Neum.

The maximum permitted driving speed on the Pelješac Bridge will be 90 kilometers per hour, which, as on the access roads, will be regulated by dynamic traffic signals, which will be managed from Zaradeže.

The Pelješac Bridge, with part of the access roads, shortens the journey from Zagreb to Dubrovnik by two hours. Kilometer-long queues and hours-long waits at the Klek and Bistrina border crossings are no more. 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.