September 18 (SeeNews) - The second pipe of Ucka road tunnel, currently Croatia’s largest infrastructure project worth 200 million euro ($213 million), is expected to open for traffic before next summer, the government said on Monday.
"The tube whose drilling has been completed today, will be completely put into transportation function before the beginning of the 2024 tourism season," prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said in a press release.
The second pipe of the Ucka tunnel is 5.63 kilometres in length and is part of the Istrian Y motorway. The Ucka tunnel connects Croatia’ northwestern Adriatic peninsula of Istria to the rest of the country under the Ucka mountain.
The construction works on the second pipe lasted more than two years, according to state TV broadcaster HRT.
In August 2020, the European Commission said it approved Croatia's plan to extend the Istrian Y motorway concession agreement with local company Bina-Istra, opening the way for the concessionaire to invest a further 197 million euro.
Bina-Istra is a joint venture company of France's Bouygues, Croatian motorway operators Hrvatske Autoceste and Istarska Autocesta, local energy firm INA and Antin Infrastructure Partners.
($ = 0.938 euro)