Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on Sunday opened the newly built Donja Zdencina junction on the Rijeka - Zagreb highway in the southern part of Zagreb County, which will connect the communities of Klinca Sela, Donja Zdencina and Pisarovina with the highway.
The junction, which includes toll booths, cost HRK 65.8 million.
The southern part of Zagreb County, which has a population of some 30,000, is now connected to the national highway network which has 1,222 kilometres of roads, and will become more accessible in terms of business and tourism, Kosor said.
She added that Croatia's modern highways were a great asset in terms of the country's future EU membership, considering the fact that Croatia is a tourist country and that 90 percent of its visitors reach it by road.
She announced government plans to invest four billion kuna in road infrastructure next year.
Transport Minister Bozidar Kalmeta, who also attended the opening ceremony, said that the Donja Zdencina junction was important for the economic development of the southern part of Zagreb County, adding that a highway junction was also being built at Novigrad near Bosiljevo, to connect Croatia with the Slovenian highway network.
Highway construction will not continue at the same pace as in the last few years, but it will not stop either, said Kalmeta, announcing continuation of construction work on the Zagreb - Dubrovnik highway further down to Ploce, as well as work on the Istrian Y highway, the Bilogora-Podravina Y highway, the Zagreb-Sisak highway and the pan-European Vc corridor.
Economy Minister Djuro Popijac said he expected new business zones to be opened in the southern part of Zagreb County following the opening of the new junction.
(Hina)