In October, the cross-border project Inter Bike III was launched in the field of cycling tourism development, transferring the results of the previous two projects of the same name to the new border areas.
Inter Bike III is a capitalisation project of the cross-border programme Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia 2021-2027, which aims to transfer the results of the previous two projects from the 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 programming periods to new areas along the border, in the Brkini area and the Torre and Natisone river valley. The previous Inter Bike projects defined the 1000 km Adriabike cycle route connecting Kranjska Gora with Ravenna. Projects co-financed investments in cycling infrastructure and educational activities to improve the offer for cycling tourists along the route. Intermodal services for transporting bicycles by bus and boat have also been introduced, some of which have become regular services.
Inter Bike III project will further upgrade the existing infrastructure and services. On the Slovenian side, attention will be paid to the development of the national cycle road D7, which connects the border crossings Robič and Jelšane, via the Karst and Brkini. The route of the road will be defined in more detail in sections that are not yet sufficiently defined, some improvements will be made to the cycling infrastructure and long-term management of the road, improving the quality of the cycling offer along the road and promoting the road itself will also be taken into account. In the Vipava valley, seasonal shuttle services will be introduced on a trial basis to the intermodal hub in neighbouring Cividale del Friuli. The services will complement the seasonal Tolmin-Cividale del Friuli bus service, co-financed under the strategic cross-border project Adrioncycletour. In terms of promotion, the online map of cross-border cycle routes, available at https://bike-alpeadria.eu, will be upgraded. A transport study will be prepared for the Coastal-Karst region to improve public bus passenger transport on suburban and cross-border routes.
On the Italian side, in the Torre and Natisone river valleys, linked by the FVG4 regional cycle route, cycling tourism offer and e-mobility will be upgraded, as in the Karst and Brkini area. In the Eastern Veneto, they intend to improve the offer of boat transport for cyclists. A new boat line is planned between Eraclea and Caorle in the Venetian lagoon and inland on the Lemene river.
These activities complement the content of the Adrioncyletour strategic project, which is also improving cycling infrastructure and services on the coastal cycling route along the North Adriatic and on its links inland to Gorizia and Gorenjska region.
