Residents of Petrčani claim that the City of Zadar's interventions, including the installation of bollards and parking lot renovations, have merely relocated the traffic congestion problem while further narrowing the roadway.
Although the City of Zadar recently carried out works and announced the establishment of order on the roads in Petrčani, the communal issue that has long plagued this coastal settlement has only changed its appearance. According to residents, the marking of new parking spaces and the installation of protective bollards on the ground have not provided the desired relief but have instead caused additional narrowing and made regular traffic even more difficult.
Residents of Petrčani point out that the new regulation may have aesthetically refreshed the area, but the essence of the problem remains completely untouched. Due to the installed bollards, vehicles have simply moved to the other side of the road, which in reality has led to a significant reduction in the width of the roadway. Passing two cars side by side has become nearly impossible in some sections, and the resulting queues often slow down local traffic and cause unnecessary congestion.
Residents express particular concern about the safety aspect of this intervention. As they emphasize, this solution not only affects the comfort of everyday driving but also directly threatens the ability of emergency services to operate. In emergency situations, ambulances or fire trucks could face serious delays on a road that no longer offers the basic conditions for unobstructed passage.
Therefore, the local community sends a message that partial measures such as painting the road and installing barriers without a comprehensive plan can no longer be an acceptable solution by the authorities. They are asking the City of Zadar and the relevant department to produce a complete and professional traffic study that would provide a sustainable approach-not one that merely moves cars from one side of the street to the other, but one that ensures a sufficient number of parking spaces while maintaining full accessibility and safety for all road users, as reported by 023.hr.
