The Višňové tunnel on the newly opened section of the D1 Lietavská Lúčka – Dubná Skala highway began to officially serve the motoring public early Monday evening. This was confirmed for TASR by the spokesman of the National Highway Company (NDS), Tomáš Ferenčák. The construction of the tunnel lasted more than 27 years with several breaks. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and Minister of Transport Jozef Ráž (nominee of Smer-SD) cut the ceremonial ribbon at its opening at the western portal of the tunnel on Monday morning together with representatives of NDS and the contractor.
“If under Strečna every day 20,000 vehicles pass, a quarter of which is expensive, so we can all imagine what a huge relief it will be for this region and for the people who travel there,” said Fico in his speech.
According to the general director of NDS Filip Macháček, the new highway section is standard charged and in the Višňové tunnel the maximum permitted speed will be 100 kilometers per hour. “At least 80 percent of the transit through Strečno will reach here in the tunnel, and it will be tens of thousands of vehicles,” noted Macháček. The exploratory tunnel of the longest Slovak tunnel began to be excavated in 1998 and was broken through with a two-year delay in September 2002. However, the actual construction of the tunnel did not begin until 12 years later.
Section D1 with the Višňové tunnel was initially built by the association of Salini Impregilo and Dúha companies, but the National Highway Company terminated the contract with it in March 2019. The construction company Skanska won the public tender for the completion of the work. The Višňové tunnel has a total length of 7.5 kilometers and it is the longest tunnel in Slovakia. The entire section of the D1 Lietavská Lúčka – Dubná Skala highway, including the tunnel, is 13.5 kilometers long. The section also includes nine bridges, ten walls, one intersection or two pre-portal buildings. The most modern technological equipment is installed in the tunnel.
