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🇭🇷 Croatia /Culture & Society

Zagreb’s first school day becomes a traffic test: ‘Is an hour normal for 15 kilometers?’

From Večernji List · () Croatian

Translated from Croatian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Zagreb’s return to the school-year routine brought heavier traffic, with parents, public transport and commuters filling the city’s main routes.
  • Tram lines 1, 9 and 17 returned to regular routes after 1,848 meters of track in Zvonimirova Street were renovated, cutting travel time from Borongaj toward the center.
  • An accident on the bypass and unfinished works elsewhere left some commuters facing journeys of about an hour for 15 kilometers.

Zagreb’s first school Monday after the summer break brought back the city’s familiar traffic pressure, but not everywhere. Some passengers welcomed the return of tram services, while others faced long queues and unfinished roadworks.

One of the clearest improvements came in Zvonimirova Street. After 1,848 meters of tram track were renovated between Trg žrtava fašizma and Heinzelova, and a switch was replaced at the Šubićeva intersection, lines 1, 9 and 17 returned to their regular routes.

For Ivana, who travels daily from Borongaj toward the city center, the change was immediate. The previous week, a replacement bus took about 20 minutes to reach Trg žrtava fašizma. On Monday, the same trip took roughly 10 minutes by tram. “Last week was absolute chaos. Traffic jams, queues and nervousness... Now it’s excellent, after three months we finally got the tram back,” she said.

Last week was absolute chaos. Traffic jams, queues and nervousness... Now it’s excellent, after three months we finally got the tram back.

· IvanaA daily commuter from Borongaj describing the return of tram services.

The morning was far less smooth on the Zagreb bypass between the Lučko and Buzin interchanges. An accident at around 7 a.m. caused major queues toward Lipovac, while traffic moved under a 60-kilometer-per-hour speed limit, according to HAK.

Construction also continued to trouble commuters crossing the city. Filip, from Sesvete, said the roughly 15-kilometer trip to his workplace can take an hour during the morning rush. He pointed especially to works at the Zagreb Avenue-Selska overpass, but said the problem extended beyond one construction site. “You can’t get anywhere in 15 minutes anymore, but is it normal that 15 kilometers in the city, with an avenue connecting two ends, takes an hour?” he asked.

The city had set the start of the school year as a deadline for most major summer traffic projects. Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said on Sunday that more than 90 percent of the announced works were complete. In Sesvete, vehicles also began crossing the overpass on Ljudevita Posavskog Street again after several months of work, though Filip did not expect a miracle solution.

You can’t get anywhere in 15 minutes anymore, but is it normal that 15 kilometers in the city, with an avenue connecting two ends, takes an hour?

· FilipA commuter from Sesvete criticizing delays caused by traffic and construction.
About this summary

Originally published by Večernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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