When the bura closes the motorway
The bura is the cold wind that falls from the mountains to the Adriatic in hard gusts. On a few stretches of motorway the operator then stops traffic: first everything but cars, and in the strongest wind everyone.
From HAC's published decisions and the road reports of the Croatian Automobile Club (HAK). Last checked on 3 October 2026.
Where
- A1, Sveti Rok to Posedarje. Here the motorway leaves the Sveti Rok tunnel under the Velebit and comes down to the sea at Maslenica. HAC has said that the closures are set off more often by the viaducts below the tunnel than by the Maslenica bridge.
- A6, Delnice to the Kikovica junction above Rijeka, through Gorski kotar, where wind often comes with snow.
- The Krk bridge, on the only road onto the island. It is not a motorway, but HAC runs it and has rules of its own for it.
- The A7 around Rijeka, between Rijeka istok and Šmrika, part of the toll-free bypass. HAK reports closures there too, though HAC has published no rules for it.
Who is stopped first
On the A1 and the A6 HAC closes a stretch in two steps. First to “group I”, which on the motorway means every vehicle except cars: motorcycles, campers, vans, buses and lorries, and cars towing a caravan or trailer, which HAK's reports name among them. If the wind grows, to all traffic. Before either step, the signs over the road lower the speed limit.
The wind speeds are set out in HAC's decisions of 2021, as measured at its stations along the road. A wet road closes sooner.
| Stretch, and where the wind is measured | Closed to all but cars | Closed to all |
|---|---|---|
| A1 Sveti Rok – Maslenica, viaducts below the tunnel | 115 / 101 | 130 / 115 |
| A1 Sveti Rok – Maslenica, Vučipolje | 86 / 79 | 108 / 101 |
| A1 Maslenica – Posedarje, Maslenica bridge | 101 / 94 | 108 / 101 |
| A6 Delnice – Kikovica | 83 / 79 | 126 / 119 |
On the A6 a snowy road closes at lower speeds still: 65 km/h for all but cars, 101 km/h for everyone. The A6 reopens only after the wind has stayed below the limits for an hour.
The Krk bridge has three groups. Motorcycles, caravans, vans higher than 1.9 m, double-deck buses and cars towing a small trailer are stopped first, at a ten-minute average of 60 km/h or gusts of 90 km/h on a dry road (50 and 80 when it is wet). Delivery vans and smaller vans follow at an average of 90 km/h (70 when wet), and everyone at 110 km/h (90 when wet), or whenever the bridge is icy. In normal weather a limit of 60 km/h applies on the bridge.
How often
From 2008 to mid-2013 HAC counted more than 860 hours of closures between Sveti Rok and Maslenica, between about 84 and 260 hours a year. On the Krk bridge, from 2010 to 2020, the first group was stopped for 3,664 hours and all traffic for 80; February, March and January were the worst months, but July still had 154 hours. Summer is no guarantee: in July 2025 the A1 between Sveti Rok and Posedarje was open to cars only.
The way round
When the A1 is closed between Sveti Rok and Posedarje, traffic goes inland on state roads. Cars are sent between Sveti Rok and the Zadar istok junction over Gračac, Obrovac and Karin (the D50 and D27). Buses and lorries may be sent further round, from Benkovac by Kistanje, Knin and Gračac. The coast road from Maslenica to Zaton Obrovački, the other way round, is often closed at the same time.
You pay for the stretches you drive. Leaving at Sveti Rok and joining again at Zadar istok, a car pays €14.50 from Zagreb and €8.10 on to Split, instead of €26.40 straight through.
Where to check before you go
- HAK, the Croatian Automobile Club: road conditions on hak.hr, in English, German and Italian, and in its app; by phone on 072 777 777, or +385 1 464 0800 from a foreign phone.
- HAC: free information line 0800 0422 (+385 1 650 4899 from abroad) and the map at karta.hac.hr.
- Radio: HAK's traffic reports on HR2 every hour at half past, from 6.30 to 19.30, in summer also in English, German and Italian. Along the A1: 98.5 MHz around Zagreb, 90.5 in Lika, 89.0 below the Velebit, 87.6 around Zadar.
- The signs over the motorway, which show closures, detours and lowered speed limits. HAC asks drivers to follow them: the signed detour leads back onto the motorway.
If you tow a caravan or ride a motorcycle, check before you set off and again on the way, and allow for a detour or a wait. On the A1 the exposed stretch begins after Gospić heading south, and after Zadar heading north.
In winter the A1 as far as Maslenica and the whole A6 also need winter equipment from 15 November to 15 April: see the rules for driving on a Croatian motorway.
Sources
- HAC: documents (in Croatian): the decisions on closing the A1 Sveti Rok – Maslenica – Posedarje (2021), the A6 Delnice – Kikovica (8 October 2021) and the Krk bridge (2021) in storm wind.
- HAC: advice for safe driving (in Croatian): vehicle group I, detours, the information line.
- HAK: road conditions, and its radio reports; HR2 frequencies.
- Novi list, 12 November 2013: HAC's hours of closure from 2008 to 2013, and what sets them off.
- Bodulija.net: the Krk bridge's hours of closure, 2010 to 2020.
- HAK's detours as reported by Antena Zadar (3 April 2026) and tportal (27 March 2026), and the cars-only A1 of July 2025 by 023.hr.