by InTrieste
Traffic slowdowns and long queues were expected on Sunday, the first major day of the summer return rush, but the situation quickly escalated into kilometers of congestion at one of northeastern Italy’s busiest motorway gates.
By late morning, cars and trucks lined up for nearly six kilometers at the Lisert toll station on the A4 motorway, with the right-hand lane almost continuously occupied by heavy vehicles stretching from the Slovenian border well beyond the toll area.
The immediate cause was the reopening of roads to trucks combined with the closure of Slovenia’s H4 motorway between Razdrto and Vrtojba, a route feeding traffic into Italy near Gorizia. The shutdown has forced a surge of trucks and buses through Lisert, rather than Fernetti, the other nearby crossing point, which is less suitable for heavy vehicles.
Officials and highway managers expect the disruption to continue in the coming weeks, particularly on Tuesdays and Sundays, traditionally among the busiest travel days. Forecasts indicate daily peaks of up to 4,000 additional trucks and buses in the corridor between Fernetti and Lisert.
Autostrade Alto Adriatico, which oversees this stretch of highway, has deployed extra resources to keep traffic flowing but acknowledges that congestion is likely to remain a problem for the duration of the Slovenian works.
Slovenian authorities say the repairs, which affect only the westbound direction toward Italy, are unavoidable and will last 100 days. Local traffic is being rerouted onto the state road through the Vipava Valley, but international vehicles are largely directed toward Italy. A second phase of similar work is scheduled to begin in July 2026.
For residents along the border, the challenge is to endure the disruption. “The hope is that the timetable is respected,” said Tanja Kosmina, mayor of Monrupino, a small Italian border town. “If the works extend beyond schedule, the impact on our communities will be significant.”
