PM Fico and Minister Raz Ceremonially Open Visnove Tunnel

Visnove, 22 December (TASR) – The National Highway Company (NDS) on Monday handed over for use a new section of the D1 motorway Lietavska Lucka–Dubna Skala (Zilina region), including the Visnove tunnel, with Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and Transport Minister Jozef Raz (Smer-SD nominee) cutting the ceremonial ribbon at the western portal of the tunnel together with representatives of NDS and the contractor. Motorists will be able to use the Visnove tunnel, the construction of which lasted more than 27 years with several interruptions, from the evening hours. "The Lietavska Lucka–Dubna Skala motorway section is literally a blessing for this region and for the whole of Slovakia. If 20,000 vehicles pass under Strecno every day, a quarter of them lorries, we can all imagine what a huge relief this will be for the region and for people travelling there," Fico said in his address. Minister Raz expects the tunnel to be opened to traffic no later than 7:00 pm on Monday. "It may be even earlier, but all the equipment used for the ceremonial opening will have to be removed first. I firmly believe that from the evening hours today the tunnel will be open to traffic," Raz noted. Raz pointed out that opening the Visnove tunnel would also increase use of the Hricovske Podhradie–Lietavska Lucka section. "Few people used the Ovcarsko and Zilina tunnels, and only now, with the opening of Visnove, will their construction make sense. A total of 25 kilometres of highway will significantly help and shorten travel across Strecno," Raz stressed. The exploratory gallery of Slovakia's longest tunnel began to be excavated back in 1998 and broke through with a two-year delay in September 2002. However, construction of the tunnel itself started only 12 years later. The D1 section with the Visnove tunnel was originally built by a consortium led by Salini Impregilo and Duha, with which NDS terminated the contract in March 2019. A public tender for completion of the project was won by construction company Skanska. The Visnove tunnel has a total length of 7.5 kilometres and is the longest tunnel in Slovakia. The entire D1 Lietavska Lucka–Dubna Skala motorway section, including the tunnel, is 13.5 kilometres long. It bypasses the road through the Strecno Gorge on the River Vah, a notorious bottleneck on the main road from western to eastern Slovakia. The section forms part of the planned comprehensive highway connection between Bratislava and Kosice. mf/mcs