Today bridge opens in Croatia that will transform travel to Balkans

From the unused track of the Pelesac Bridge, Ivo Jerkovic looks at the coastal village of Komarna, where he serves as mayor.

When the bridge is opened, we will be at the centre of a district of”, he says, pointing to the tourist cities of Dubrovnik and Mostar, and beyond the Adriatic, as far as the Pelishaci mountain Peninsula.

I think this [Turkish] season will be very good. After two years with [the pandemic] COVIED, we're almost”, he says.

The 2.4km bridge, on which Jerkovik stands, is expected to dramatically clear the landways along the Balkan coast.

Drivers on the coast road of southern Croatia currently must cross a border checkpoint in Bosnia and Herzegovina before returning to Croatia which is the European Union's territory about nine kilometers later.

Croatia must be admitted to the Schengen free movement area in 2024, and the passage through Bosnia would be a massive obstacle to it.

One condition for Schengen membership is for travelers and vehicles to be checked in and out of Schengen territory.

The additional checkpoint at Bosnia's Neum would increase its burden in traffic, especially during the summer hot months.

The additional checkpoint at Bosnia's Neum would increase its burden in traffic, especially during the summer hot months.

Other options for overcoming Bosnia's territory have earlier included a ferry service, an underwater tunnel and a “closed” highway through Bosnia.

Works on the bridge designed by Slovenian Marjan Pipenbaer began in 2018, since the European Union has agreed to cover 85 percent of the cost, and Croatia is 15 percent. The total cost of the project is $438m.

The four - lane bridge tender has been won by Chinese corporations Street and Bridge.

In the Bosnian Neum, the place that will be downloaded from traffic when the bridge opens local forecasts for the future are mixed.

Nikita, a waiter at the Motel More restaurant, is not optimistic.

“This road is life”, he says, and adds that when the bridge is opened and the vacationers drive around Neum, his business mostly depends on tourists passing through that direction, “will end”.

There's less anxiety off the highway. At the City Bar cafe, located near the Neum coast, owner Davor hopes that easy access to the beaches of the Pelishaci Peninsula will attract more citizens from Bosnia. He also mentions part of a new road that will be opened that will cut off from Mostar to Neum. Some people, simply, are afraid of changes”, he says.

In Komarna, Croatia, locals are preparing for an influx of tourists this summer. The picturesque village, with its fishing boats filling the Adriatic Sea, will be in full view of drivers passing through the bridge.

Ivo Jerkovic has already started to resign some businesses in the village. The restaurant he runs in the Komarna City which was used to feed the workers during the winter will soon be reopened with the new name "The Bridge" to refer to the spectacular view from his terrace. / REL