Managed retreat of the coastal state road Koper-Izola and sustainable requalification of the coast

Cities of Koper and Izola, Slovenia

Dates : Since 2004

Project leaders : Municipalities of Koper and Izola, the Public Institute for Entrepreneurship

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Actors

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Summary

Koper is the regional urban centre of the wider coastal conurbation (along with Izola and Piran) of international importance as it is a logistic and traffic nexus with developed cargo and passenger ports. Meanwhile, Izola is a touristic urban centre of lower rank, connected to Koper by a state road. Hugging the coast for its entire length, the road has been responsible for the rapid degradation of coastal and marine habitats and is increasingly at risk of rising sea levels. 

The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning and DARS (Motorways Company in the Republic of Slovenia) initiated the construction of a new road further inland to ensure public security and the maintenance and improvement of the road connection between the two cities. The municipalities of Koper and Izola then took on the initiative for temporary and long-term coastal rearrangement. With the goals of ensuring a modern road connection and rehabilitating degraded coastal areas, the project became an opportunity to coordinate visions and actions for the entire rearrangement of the coastal belt as part of a Regional Spatial Plan. This project drew on the participation of a wide range of stakeholders, mobilised during participatory community spatial planning activities.

Actions

The traffic between the cities of Koper and Izola was ensured by a state road, hugging the coast for its entire length of about 5 km. Built on high cliffs, the road was responsible for the degradation of the landscape as well as coastal and marine habitats (e.g. seagrass meadows of Posidonia oceanica), while occupying recreational space. Besides, due to accelerated impacts of climate change, it was becoming highly vulnerable to high sea levels and strong waves.

A number of solutions of the route trajectory were discussed: along the coast, partly along the coast, and a tunnel between Koper (Slavček) and Izola. The options that withdrew the road (partly or fully) through a tunnel received the best reviews from the tender commission, demonstrating further environmental sensitivity to the spatial quality of the coast and the urgency to adapt among decision-makers. 

The building of a new road connection further away from the coast fulfilled multiple objectives: 

  • Ensure a modern road connection; 
  • Rearrange the degraded coastal area into an attractive, green, recreational area, coordinated with the network of protected areas (Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve, Landscape park Strunjan),
  • Ensure close-to-nature arrangements, which will be resistant to the expected climate changes in the future

The project implementation was divided into several phases. 

  1. The first phase included preparation activities, confirmation of the location plan, preparation of project documentation and the construction of the section of the express road. 
  2. The second phase focussed on minimal, temporary arrangements of the coastal road area between Koper and Izola, which enabled recreational use of the space after the withdrawal of traffic. 
  3. The third implementation phase is currently ongoing and involves the preparation of the needed spatial and project documentation, which will be followed by the final implementation of a close-to-nature arrangement of the coast of the former state road between Koper and Izola. 

Outcomes

The decision to remove the road into a tunnel has been recognised as beneficial for both adaptation and mitigation. This road retreat reduces the vulnerability of this important traffic artery to climate change impacts, in particular to the expected sea level rise and more frequent extreme weather conditions including corresponding coastal erosion risk.

As for mitigation, the tunnel shortened the distance between Koper and Izola by about 900 m. With an average daily traffic through the tunnel of 35.000 vehicles, this means significantly lower CO2 emissions. It was estimated that around 1.900 t less CO2 emissions in one year was emitted.

An integrated approach to the management area was essential. Extending beyond municipal boundaries the inter-municipal cooperation between Koper and Izola in vision development and operational programmes allowed a comprehensive approach that integrated the interests and desires of various actors. In parallel, it is critical to establish a cooperation platform, including active involvement of the general public in the phases of vision development and determination of the future use of the space.

Stakeholder engagement is central to the definition of the new arrangement of the coastal belt. The ongoing phase of preparation of the spatial plan (Regional Spatial Plan) for a comprehensive arrangement of the coastal belt as a public space clearly emphasises the ideal of a common vision of spatial planning, based on sustainable development. This demands careful coordination of the projects for recreational infrastructure, tourism development projects, as well as projects dealing with nature conservation, sustainable mobility, urban renovations, etc. Numerous workshops and tenders were carried out in the past two decades. These resulted in a rich and expansive documentation which will allow the formulation of ideas for future arrangements. In September 2018, the PiNA association organised the one-day event “Let’s draw the coast”, which gathered more than 1.000 people of all generations from Slovenia and the rest of Europe to draw their visions for the future coast. 

A critical importance was given to improving the socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions throughout the entire process. In the second phase, Koper and Izola municipalities arranged a biking lane, toilets, and equipped the space with small facilities (benches). The Municipality of Koper also arranged access to the sea and public lightning. Ahead of that, both municipalities negotiated with the Ministry of Infrastructure to exempt the tunnel from the vignette system, and to give over the two municipalities the management of the coastal road. This set the conditions for the elimination of car traffic on the old coastal road, enabled the arrangement and wide recreational use of the former road space.

The project adopted a landscape and integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) approach that opened the solution space and allowed the meeting of diverse expertise. 

Formal and informal pressures from potential investors can be reported. These were aiming for partial solutions, often to the expense of comprehensive arrangements and the public interest.

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