UCKA TUNNEL ONE OF SAFEST TUNNELS IN EUROPE

LABIN, Jan 2 (Hina) - Just before Christmas, the 18-millionth vehicle passed through the longest Croatian tunnel under Mount Ucka, 150 kms south-west of Zagreb, after eighteen years of its opening, according to an article of the Croatian daily 'Vecernji List' of Sunday. The 5,062-metre-long tunnel is the main road connection of Istria with the rest of Croatia. According to some statistics, the Ucka tunnel is considered one of the safest European tunnels. In 1998, a total of 1,860,000 cars used it, and about 5,000 vehicles were recorded daily. The toll, fixed on June 1, 1996, has not been changes since then. It amounts from 20 to 120 kuna (approximately from 3 to 20 US$) depending on the size of vehicles. The charge for cars with local licence tables is reduced by 50 percent. During 1998 the tunnel was modernised. The head of the maintenance team said that 15 million kuna had been spent for the tunnel's renovation. "The remote control system has been reconstructed, and a new system for the control of the atmosphere in the tunnel has been introduced," he said. The tunnel management expects a rise in traffic in 1999 due to speedy development of intersecting roads such as the 'Rijeka- Zagreb-Gorican' road, a road from Rijeka toward a border crossing to Slovenia and sections of the Istrian y-road. (hina) ms