After a pleasant weekend in Neringa, there is a huge queue for the ferry: annoying motorcyclists and local “tricksters”

At the end of the summer season, when three “Sand dunes transfer” ferries without any schedule, there are two ferries left in autumn that run according to the approved schedule – every 20 minutes. As a result, they no longer have time to move the ever-increasing number of cars. There are queues at the ferry from the Smiltynė side every Sunday.

One ferry can carry up to 40 cars at a time.

The line of cars at the ferry terminal across the Curonian Lagoon in Smiltyne started to get longer since Sunday noon. In the afternoon, she “climbed” Hagen Hill, and in the afternoon she descended to the Smiltynės-Nida highway.

The half-marathon running competition that took place in Nida on the weekend and various events dedicated to the World Tourism Day and organized by the Curonian Spit National Park also had an impact on the larger car traffic.

by the way Municipality of Neringa on that occasion, from midday on Friday (September 29) to midday on Saturday, no local tolls were collected. The move was expected to attract more people. However, few people knew about the opportunity to come to the national park for free. “We found out about it only when we arrived. We had planned the trip to Neringa a long time ago,” admitted a family from Kaunas waiting in line at the ferry.

The family that came from Anykščiai also waited in line for two hours. “But our car is still far from the ferry.” How long will you have to wait? We don’t know. And then the trip back home to Anykščias”, said the Highlanders.

Most of the motorists disciplinedly stood in line and waited patiently, but there were also those who crossed the continuous line and drove into the oncoming traffic lane, smoking to the front of the line. In this way, the road was “shortened” by motorcyclists, for whom waiting in line was “not level” and so-called “paper Neringiškii” – those who have declared their place of residence in one of Neringa’s settlements and have the right to move across the Curonian Lagoon for free and without queuing. Thanks to such tricksters, the queue shortened more slowly than one would like.

Vitalijs Bielskis, the dispatcher of “Smiltynės perkėlos”, informed that the ferries to the Curonian Spit will be on Friday, September 29. 1,725 ​​cars were moved, on Saturday – 1,218. Compared to the summer months, when 2,500 cars were transported to the Curonian Spit in one day, this is not much.

By the way, in the summer, two biotoilets were built on the road for those waiting in line. They were gone in the fall. Therefore, car and bus passengers run to roadside pine forests to do their natural business.