The 5,761 m long Mala Kapela was opened for traffic on Friday. Sanader toured the tunnel as part of today's celebrations marking the opening of the highway connecting Zagreb and the southern Adriatic city of Split.
The inauguration began in Zagreb, after which a line of cars headed south to Mala Kapela, driving the most senior state officials, including former prime ministers and ministers, as well as other guests.
"I have passed through many tunnels in Europe and Mala Kapela is one of the most beautiful. However, beauty is not the only important thing, it's also important that it is safe," Sanader told the press.
He said he was witnessing the realisation of a great goal, recalling that Croatia planned and spoke of a highway connecting Zagreb and Split way back in 1971. He added that only when Croatia became independent in the early 1990s was it possible to achieve that objective.
The PM said the inauguration of the highway was also "the realisation of a big dream which closes old traumas and paves the way for the development of the Croatian economy, which is one of the biggest potentials of this highway".
Sanader announced for next week the opening of the highway between Rijeka and Rupa, the forthcoming opening of the Zupanja-Lipovac highway, and the start of works on the Zagreb-Sisak highway. He underlined that in four to six years Croatia would be crisscrossed by highways and that they would give impetus to economic development.
Initially, only the right two-way Mala Kapela lane will be open for traffic, while the left lane will serve as a service tunnel.
Transport and Development Minister Bozidar Kalmeta said the left lane would be opened when the average annual traffic exceeded 12,000 vehicles per day.
The construction of Mala Kapela lasted 2.5 years, costing about 550 million kuna. Works were begun by the Italian company Coopcostruttori and were completed by Viadukt from Zagreb.
After passing through the tunnel, the state officials and their guests proceeded down the new highway towards Skradin, 50 km northwest of Split, where PM Sanader will officially inaugurate the Zagreb-Split highway, which will be blessed by Sibenik Bishop Ante Ivas.
(EUR1 = 7.3 kuna)