Croatia's Pelesac Bridge will allow travelers to avoid several border checkpoints from July 26, but not everyone is impressed with its spectacular structure.

From the still unused track of the Peleshac bridge, Ivo Jerkovic looks at the coastal village of Komarna, where he serves as mayor.

"When the bridge opens, we will be at the center of a circle," he says, pointing from the tourist towns of Dubrovnik and Mostar, then across the Adriatic to the mountainous Pelesac Peninsula.

"I think this [tourist] season will be very good.

After two years with the COVID [pandemic], we are ready," he says.

The 2.4 kilometer bridge, on which Jerkovic stands, is expected to dramatically decongest land routes along the Balkan coast.

Drivers on the southern Croatian coastal road currently have to pass a border checkpoint in Bosnia and Herzegovina, before re-entering Croatia - which is a European Union territory - some 9 kilometers later.

Croatia is due to be admitted to the free movement zone, Schengen, in 2024, and going through Bosnia would be a massive obstacle for it.

A condition for Schengen membership is that travelers and vehicles are checked at the entrance and exit of the Schengen territory.

The additional checkpoint in Neum, Bosnia would increase the traffic load, especially during the hot summer months.

Some other options for crossing Bosnia's territory have previously included a ferry service, an underwater tunnel and a "closed" highway corridor through Bosnia.

Work on the bridge designed by Slovenian Marjan Pipenbacher began in 2018, after the European Union agreed to cover 85 percent of the cost, while Croatia 15 percent.

The total cost of the project is 438 million dollars.

The tender for the construction of the four-lane bridge was won by the Chinese corporation Rruga e Ura.

In Bosnia's Neum – the place that will be relieved of traffic when the bridge opens – local predictions for the future are mixed.

Nikita, a waiter at the Motel More restaurant, is not optimistic.

"This road is life," he says, adding that when the bridge opens and vacationers drive around Neum, his business - which largely depends on tourists passing through - "will be over."

Away from the highway there is less anxiety.

At the City Bar cafe located near the coast of Neum, owner Davor hopes that easy access to the beaches of the Pelesac Peninsula will attract more citizens from Bosnia.

He also mentions a part of a new road that will be opened, which will shorten the journey from Mostar to Neum.

"Some people are simply afraid of change," he says.

In Komarna, Croatia, locals are preparing for an influx of tourists this summer.

The picturesque village, with its fishing boats dotting the Adriatic Sea, will be in full view of motorists passing over the bridge.

Ivo Jerković has already started renaming some businesses in the village.

The restaurant he runs in Komarna – which was used to feed workers during the winter – will soon reopen with a new name – Ura – to refer to the spectacular view from its terrace.

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