On Sunday, the long-anticipated motorway section with the Višňové Tunnel was opened to drivers. Before regular traffic began, the public was invited to tour the tunnel and view its technologies. Interest was high: drivers waited in traffic queues, while others walked to the tunnel on foot. The opportunity to see the longest tunnel in Slovakia attracted thousands of people. “Finally, it’s great! And it’s important that I lived to see it,” said one for all.
The nearly 7,5 km long tunnel was under construction for 27 years. The opening was commented on by both coalition and opposition MPs. Opposition Štefan Kišš (PS) stated that Višňové is a monument to the failures of 15 years under different Fico-led governments. “This section has been under construction for almost 30 years and points out to the total inability of Fico’s governments to do anything properly as they have been building this since 2014. At the beginning they fired the company that had to finish it at the end. The difference is that we had to pay for it twice,” stated Kišš for Slovak Radio.
According to coalition MP Roman Michelko from SNS, the tunnel is the prove of the total failure of right wing governments: "Right-wing governments halted construction, leaving left-wing or Fico-led governments to resolve the issue. Thank God there is this government now, because had there been the right-wing or current opposition, this tunnel certainly wouldn't have been put to operation at all."
The official opening of the new D1 motorway section between Lietavská Lúčka and Dubná Skala, including the Višňové Tunnel near Žilina, was scheduled for Monday.
The entire section is 13.5 kilometres long, with the tunnel itself measuring 7.5 kilometres, making it the longest road tunnel in the country upon opening. The section will form part of the D1 motorway between Bratislava and Košice and will relieve traffic on the I/18 first-class road in the Strečno area. Despite the opening of this segment, the D1 motorway is still incomplete, with the 13.5-kilometre Turany–Dubná Skala section missing.
Source: STVR
