Long stops: slow traffic and kilometres of tin on our and Croatian roads

The summer season has officially arrived, bringing with it the familiar chaos of holiday traffic on roads across Europe. As expected, the peak of the tourist season has once again turned major highways into bottlenecks, with long queues forming along both Slovenian and Croatian routes. Travelers heading towards popular Adriatic destinations or mountain resorts find themselves facing significantly extended travel times due to heavy congestion. On Slovenian motorways, the situation is predictable but no less challenging. The heaviest traffic flows are currently directed toward the Croatian border, with vehicles coming to a standstill just before the Gruškovje border crossing on the Podravje motorway. Similarly, the coastal motorway experiences significant delays between Unc and Postojna in the direction of Koper. Authorities advise drivers to adjust their speed, maintain adequate safety distances, and regularly check traffic updates. The congestion isn't limited to major highways. Regional and local roads also suffer from increased traffic volumes. The road connecting Lesce and Bled is heavily burdened in both directions, as are sections along the coast between Ljubljana and Izola, as well as the route linking Šmarje and the Dragonja border crossing. These localized bottlenecks contribute to further delays for travelers navigating the region. In Croatia, the situation appears even more chaotic, with tourists from all over Europe converging on the country's southern neighbors. According to reports from the Croatian Automobile Club (HAK), traffic has slowed down on nearly all main roads leading to the sea. On the central Croatian motorway A1 (Zagreb–Split–Dubrovnik), movement between the toll station Lučko and the split at Bosiljevo 2 is particularly slow, with cars moving in tightly packed columns that occasionally come to a complete halt. Before the Lučko toll station from the Buzin junction on the A3 motorway, vehicles form approximately two-kilometer-long lines. Similar issues arise on the A2 motorway, where a three-kilometer queue forms near the Trakošćan toll station heading towards Zagreb. In eastern Croatia, near the Bajakovo border crossing, drivers of passenger and freight vehicles wait in two-kilometer-long lines. On the Istrian peninsula, traffic congestion primarily occurs on the Istrsko ipsilon section heading towards the sea. Here, traffic sometimes halts at the Mirna bridge, the Limska Draga viaduct, and the segment between the junction and the Učka tunnel. The bridge to the island of Krk is also heavily affected, with traffic jams extending all the way to the Šmrika junction. Those returning to the mainland face delays starting from the Njivice area. Along the Adriatic highway, additional obstacles to traffic include ongoing roadworks, notably on the national road DC1, where traffic jams occur in the area between Gračac and Knin near Otric. Authorities continue to recommend that drivers adapt their speeds, maintain safe distances, and stay updated with real-time traffic information to navigate these challenging conditions effectively.