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The new attraction of the Bachledova Dolina ski resort, in the valley near Ždiar, is a tourist education path in the tree-tops. In mid-October it caused a traffic jam once again, the Korzár Spiš regional newspaper wrote.
Many drivers complained about tailbacks several kilometres long, from Tatranská Kotlina all the way to the ski resort.
On the weekend (of October 14-15), there was also a traffic jam from Bachledova Dolina Valley to the Polish border, since about 12,000 visitors arrived in total, the resort’s spokesperson Martina Múdra said, as cited by the newspaper. “This is an overload we are not able to handle,” she said, adding that even the additional parking lot – for up to 300 cars – prepared the week before did not help. “Despite the shuttle transport from the parking lot in the Ždiar-Strednica resort, two additional parking sites and people parking all over the village, we cannot prevent the tailbacks, as the roads leading to the path is narrow,” Múdra explained, adding that the road is also used by people driving to the Polish Nowy Targ markets, or to the High Tatras.
Seeking solutions
The resort management is negotiating with several bodies about a roundabout and about widening the troublesome road. There also exists a plan to create more parking places. However, all these measures will only be possible in the course of the next year.
Police recommend using mass transport, or avoiding the path during weekends at least, which is the worst. On weekdays, the visitors’ rate in Bachledova Dolina is between 2,000 and 3,000 a day, while at weekends, it is much more. For now, more than half of the visitors are Slovaks, and approximately 40 percent are Polish, Spiš Korzár wrote.
