“This is a great asset for the Port of Koper, its surroundings and the country as a whole. The new terminal will certainly contribute to improving the situation in the area of freight vehicle parking. It will also have a positive impact on improving the environment and the traffic flow on the coastal section of the motorway network,” said Minister of Infrastructure Alenka Bratušek. She added that Slovenia must take advantage of its geographical location, which offers many opportunities and competitive advantages with regard to the development of logistics. The Ministry of Infrastructure is well aware of this and will provide the logistics industry and the Port of Koper with the necessary support. In addition to the construction of the Sermin and Bertoki access roads, the key project is the construction of a second railway line which will be continued with the construction of an additional, parallel track between Koper and Divača. Another important investment to relieve road freight traffic is the development of a truck parking area near Divača, which has been identified as a priority by the Ministry.
“With the new truck terminal, we have taken a decisive step towards more efficient port logistics, which we started a few years ago with the construction of the Sermin and Bertoki gates. This step is also important from the point of view of relocating all the services that are essential for the smooth entry and exit of cargo from our port,” said Nevenka Kržan, President of the Management Board of the Port of Koper, at the opening ceremony. The new terminal, together with the investments that will follow in the coming years, will make an important contribution to relieving traffic congestion and increasing traffic flow on the access roads into the city.
The participants were also addressed by Kristjan Mugerli, Director of Kolektor CPG, which, together with the construction company Grafist, planned and built the new Sermin truck parking area. “The project was technically demanding and extensive, mainly due to the poorly paved terrain. We had to pile and replace the foundations under all the buildings. We used more than 30,000 cubic metres of backfill construction material and 21,000 tonnes of asphalt, and arranged all the necessary infrastructure,” said Mugerli.
A driver-friendly and efficient stop
The project included the construction of a facility with 203 parking spaces for freight vehicles, offices for freight forwarders, an info point for announcing port entry, and all the necessary infrastructure. We also included 6,000 m2 of green areas in the plan and as soon as weather conditions are more favourable, we will plant 69 trees. The investment has been co-funded by the European Commission under the Connecting Europe Facility programme in the amount of 4.89 million euros. The new truck terminal will also meet the so-called gold standard of service and safety for its users.
Relieving congestion on the Koper road network
Most of the trucks stopping at the new truck parking area will enter the Port of Koper at the Sermin gate. The main Koper freight entrance, which is the closest to the city centre, has already been significantly decongested in recent years thanks to the Bertoki and Sermin gates, and this remains our long-term goal. Following the Sermin truck terminal opening, we expect even less freight traffic on the roads into Koper.
The old truck terminal, located near the city’s shopping mall, closed its doors for good on 8 January this year. The port’s facilities were therefore moved out of the city.
