Slovenia modernises motorway system to cope with increasing traffic

The summer tourist season is almost on us in Central Europe and as well as very welcome tourists trade. But this can spell problems for a country like Slovenia - a major transit state for people getting from North and Western Europe to the Adriatic. So, how are Slovenia's roads coping with the traffic?

According to some estimates, more people travel through Slovenia than actually live in Slovenia. And the burden on the country is heaviest in the summer, when hundreds of thousands of cars cross the country on their way to the Adriatic Sea and Istria. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Slovenia has put enormous amounts of money (roughly $5 billion) and people (roughly 20,000) into modernizing the nation's motorway system. But progress this year is slightly behind schedule. According to Jure Krajnc of the national motorway company DARS:

"Well, so far we had a little bit of problems with the weather conditions. There was too much rain, so we couldn't accomplish all the goals that we wanted to, but now things are getting better so I think this year's plans we'll accomplish 100%."

By the end of this year, Slovenia plans to finish 60 kilometers of four-lane motorways at a cost of nearly 400 million euros. Unfortunately, the heavily-travelled route between the capital city of Ljubljana and the city of Koper at the coast, is expected to be finished around September 15 - so, after the high season ends.

Travellers coming to Slovenia can expect delays this summer. Mr. Krajnc describes the most problematic times:

"We expect those delays mostly at weekends - in the last weekend in July and in all weekends in August. On Fridays and Saturdays mostly towards touristic places and towards the Adriatic Sea and Sundays back from tourist centers to inland Slovenia."

The country's toll booths are another problem. Although they take Euros, dollars and (of course) Slovenian tolars, DARS recommends buying the electronic ABC card for speedier travel. And, of course, the most important tip for travelling is to stay safe and have a pleasant trip this summer.