The management of the Municipality of Tivat strongly opposes the conceptual design for the project of a high-speed highway through the hinterland from Herceg Novi to Budva, which was developed by the company "Građevinski Institut Makedonija" AD.
For the crossing of this road across the bay, a variant was offered with the construction of a bridge from Zelenika to Luštica, after which this road would then continue along a corridor across the Luštica peninsula further towards Grbalj. This was strongly opposed by the leaders of the Municipality of Tivat who, as well as the local population of Krtol, through which the expressway corridor would pass in this variant, consider such a solution extremely harmful to the interests of the local community and the space in general in this sensitive area of Boka Kotorska.
As announced by the local administration of Tivat, last week, the leaders of the Municipality initiated a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, the Monteput company, and all local communities through whose territories the expressway from Budva to Herceg Novi, via Luštica, would pass.
The meeting, as they stated, was organized with the intention of obtaining information on the status of the project through direct communication between the Municipality and the Ministry and Monteput, as the company that financed the development of the conceptual design for the expressway through Luštica, and to clearly state the position of the local administration and citizens on this issue in direct communication.
"We were introduced to the idea of a high-speed road through Luštica during the Public Hearing on the Draft Spatial Plan of Montenegro, when this and such a solution was presented to us as an alternative to some others. At that time, we clearly said no to this solution, presenting a series of arguments," emphasizes the Vice President of the Municipality of Tivat, Jovan Brinić, stating that this position was supported by the profession, planners who attended the public hearing and worked on the drafting of the document.
"Despite very obvious opposition, the process of concretizing this solution began, precisely by developing a conceptual design for the expressway project, without direct communication and without involving the wider public in the decision-making process," Brinić points out, stating that the locals are against such a solution, which would permanently devastate the area of Krtole, Luštica and Grbalj.
"There is a solution acceptable to us in the form of a part of the Adriatic-Ionian Road route, which would be built in the hinterland of Boka Bay, and which would be connected to the towns in Boka Bay by special roads, and we will support such a solution. We also support the solution for the part of the road that is connected to the future boulevard in Lastva Grbaljska, towards Brajići," he states.
The Spatial Plan of Montenegro must contain final solutions to the long-standing traffic problem, but alternative solutions like this one, which have appeared in previous planning documents, and which have a very negative impact on space, should be avoided - this is the position of the Secretariat for Spatial Planning of Opptiune Tivat.
"The solution presented at the meeting, which involves the construction of a tunnel for a significant part of the route through Krašići, is certainly less devastating than previously proposed, but considering all aspects, especially social ones, we believe that it is not feasible. Part of the route through Luštica is in the zone of settlements and environmental units and cannot be implemented without creating negative effects and conflicts in the space. It should also be noted that the territory of the municipality of Tivat was recognized as a 'buffer' zone by the heritage impact assessment for the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of Kotor (Heritage impact assessment - HIA), and that regarding the bridge connecting Zelenika and Luštica, we do not have the position of the UNESCO advisory mission on how much negative effects its construction would cause, violating the integrity and visual identity of the cultural landscape of Boka Kotorska as a whole," the secretariat stated.
They question the justification for planning a transit corridor for high-speed motor traffic on the territory of the Tivat municipality, which, with its total area of only 46 square kilometers, is already very limited in terms of space.
Representatives of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, led by Minister Slaven Radunović (Nova), did not attend the meeting.
Present were the Mayor of the Municipality Željko Komnenović, Vice President Jovan Brinić, President of the Tivat Municipal Assembly Miljan Marković, Municipality Manager Ivona Petrović, Secretary for Spatial Planning Milica Manojlović, Director of Monteput Milan Ljiljanić with his associates, and representatives of the local communities of Krtola, Krašić and Grbalj.
The conceptual solution for the expressway via Luštica and Krtol is yet another in a series of conflicts between the local administration of Tivat and the government and the department headed by Slaven Radunović, which have intensified since the ministry completely neglected the process of drafting the new Spatial and Urban Plan of Tivat, which began several years ago, and continued the practice of previous governments of not respecting the interests and positions of the local administration and population when it comes to state location studies for the coastal area, drafting the Program of Temporary Facilities in the Coastal Zone, or the management and administration of beaches and swimming areas.
Brinić: It's crazy to "push" a highway and expressway into the most densely populated part of the country
Brinić told "Vijesti" that it is "simply incredible" that Monteput and the authors of the conceptual design for the coastal expressway decided to "push" this new and very busy road to the Boka Bay area, which, along with Podgorica, is the most densely populated part of Montenegro.
"We already have huge problems in Boka Bay when it comes to space, a large number of people live here all the time, and in the summer a huge number of tourists come, it borders on madness that someone thought of laying out a high-speed road through such a limited and sensitive area, which is extremely important for the country due to its huge share in creating its total GDP through tourism. Here they have huge unused and empty areas in the hinterland of the bay through Krivošije and Cuce, so let them build highways there and then use them to make connections to coastal cities, and not destroy any perspective for a normal life and development, and directly endanger the interests of the local population," Brinić pointed out.
He added that the authors of the Spatial Plan of Montenegro also believed that the future high-speed coastal road should go along the hinterland of Boka Bay, and not pass through the very heart of the bay, which is what happened with the conceptual design developed for Monteput by the "Construction Institute of Macedonia" AD.
Bonus video:
