In the Notes section of the new Coordination, the topic is transport infrastructure throughout Croatia, and the guest is the Dean of the Faculty of Transport Sciences, Marko Šoštarić.
Motorways are being built and upgraded throughout Croatia. In your opinion, which route will contribute the most to traffic relief and more pleasant driving in Lijepa nasma?
Šoštarić: I would say that every highway contributes to the quality of driving, safety and comfort. However, I would like to emphasize one route that we have not yet started to build, and that is the expressway between Dubrovnik and the airport.
In the south of the country, we have a problem, which is the overloading of the road from Dubrovnik to the airport. It carries at least twice as many vehicles as its capacity because of the traffic jams. During the season, it’s okay for there to be crowds during the weekend, but not every day and throughout the day. This not only creates difficulties for the local population and other citizens who are traveling there, but is also a security problem. Namely, there are six cases of traffic accidents there.
People should be enabled to live a normal life and connect Dubrovnik with the airport.
Why is the work on the Vc corridor taking so long and why is this traffic direction important to us?
Šoštarić: Vc is a corridor that connects Budapest via Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with the port of Ploče. It is important, and the work on it takes quite a long time, but I think that Croatia has done its part on time. Maybe too fast.
At the moment, there are too few vehicles moving through that corridor for that highway to be justified. I think the average traffic there is around 4,500 vehicles per year, which is four times less than on the highway from Zagreb to Varadin or from Zagreb to Krapina. And even ten times less than on the highway from Zagreb to Karlovac.
This corridor will achieve its purpose only when the route from Budapest to Ploč is established. However, Bosnia and Herzegovina will not finish all its sections for a long time, so the Vc corridor will not be fully functional for many years.
The application of green and sustainable principles did not bypass the traffic system either. How should the so-called “green highways” look and function?
Šoštarić: Green highways are roads that have a large number of charging stations for electric vehicles, and even those that, at least on one lane, have the possibility of contactless charging of this type of vehicle. These are technologies and solutions that are currently being tested duž Europe and this is what the future of highways will probably look like when electric vehicles take precedence over other types of traffic. However, we will have to wait for that for a while.
It would be better to strive for sustainable traffic in general, rather than green highways. This form of transport is based on sustainable forms of travel – for shorter distances walking and cycling, and for longer distances all forms of public transport. In addition, there is also freight traffic, which is mainly carried out by rail. And with an electrified ž railway that is charged from renewable energy sources. And that is real green and sustainable traffic.
Croatia could soon get its first green airport in Zadar. Do we need the strengthening of air transport, that is – in which form of transport is the most profitable to invest in Croatia?
Šoštarić: I would say that it is most profitable to invest in city traffic because we participate in it every day from morning to night. People spend a lot of time and fuel in it. Cars emit a lot of harmful exhaust gases. If we invest in the optimization of city traffic to reduce traffic congestion and increase mobility within cities, it can be returned to us the most.
Air transport is also very important and should be invested in. Europe, as well as the rest of the world, have become a unique space for education, business and other activities, which is why there is a new need for long-distance travel. Any trip longer than 500 kilometers is not reasonable to make by road. It should be done either by rail or air.
In Croatia, the railway is still not competitive for such long-distance international travel, so we are focused on air traffic, which needs further development.
How do we stand in terms of shipping ports – should they also be modernized?
Šoštarić: Ship ports in Croatia have less traffic and cargo than the largest European and world ports, and they are also less developed. You should invest in them.
For example, the river port has great potential, but the problem is that it is not well connected to the interior by a railway connection. For the development of the port of Rijeka, a railway connection should first be developed and connected to the new railway route to Karlovac and Zagreb in the long term. In the short term, the route from the port could be optimized to be more functional.
Admittedly, the river port is currently being modernized and a lot of investment is being made in it. New equipment for cargo maneuvering is being introduced, and it is connected to the highway by a new road. Over time, it will be better and more functional, but I repeat – for quality development, it is necessary to establish an iron connection with the interior of the country.
What is more demanding to restore and upgrade – railways or highways?
Šoštarić: I would say that it is similar. Highways have a greater width, while railways do not suffer as many ups and downs, i.e. uphills and downhills. High-speed trains must have much larger turning radii because it is more difficult to fit them into the space. Nothing that modern construction could not solve.
It is more important that they are carefully planned and built where they will have a purpose and be useful for people and for transporting goods.
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