"Crucial" modern highway nearing completion, set to connect Tbilisi with Batumi
The newly opened section is one of a number of segments of the large-scale "east-west" highway project. Photo via Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia press office.
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Ongoing work on a highway of "crucial" importance, set to connect Georgia's capital Tbilisi with the Black Sea city of Batumi, will be completed soon, prime minister Giorgi Gakharia told reporters on Saturday.
Gakharia made comments about different sections of the ongoing highway construction at an opening of a 14-kilometre-long segment connecting the village of Japana with the city of Lanchkhuti in the Guria province of western Georgia.
This [section] will be a very significant part of the east-west highway [...] the first section of which will be opened next year, before the opening of the season.
Once the Kutaisi bypass road is completed, the entire highway to Lanchkhuti will be launched. This is a crucial project for realising the transit function of the country," Gakharia told local media.
An aerial view of a part of the newly opened section connecting the village of Japana to the city of Lanchkhuti in Georgia's west. Photo via Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia press office.
About 70 new kilometres of the highway are set to complete this year, with subsequent work to focus on the Rikoti Pass section, PM also said in his comments.
The newly completed 14-kilometre-long section of the E60 "east-west" highway is already serving drivers and shortens travel time by 20-30 percent, the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure said in its release.
The four-lane road of the section cost 250 million GEL ($81,7 mil/€71,4 mil) to complete and involved support by the European Investment Bank.
The road connects the city of Lanchkhuti along with the villages of Japana, Kviani, Nigoiti and Kvemo Shukhuti in the western province.
Georgia is currently building 140 kilometers of new large highways, of which a total of 70 km roads will be opened by the end of 2020, says Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia.
The Roads Department of Georgia has signed an agreement for the reconstruction of the fourth section of the Rikoti Pass – a mountain pass which divides Georgia into its eastern and western parts – with Guizhou Highway Engineering Group and China National Technical Import and Export Corporation, announced the department earlier today.
800 km of roads have been rebuilt across Georgia in 2019, which is almost four times more compared to the previous year, said Head of the Roads Department Irakli Karseladze earlier today.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $278 million loan for Georgia to build and reconstruct 30 kilometres (km) of main and secondary roads between the towns of Shorapani and Argveta on Georgia’s East–West Highway.
Forty-seven streets in western Georgian town of Zugdidi will be repaired, for which 52 million GEL (about $16.86/€14.29) will be spent, announces the Roads Department of Georgia.
The Khashuri bypass road, a new 13 km section of Georgia’s major transport artery, the East-West Highway, has opened today. The project aims to modernise the country’s infrastructural development, as well as to improve regional connectivity and road transport efficiency.
The first 2.5 km two-lane section of the Rikoti Highway, a mountain pass which divides Georgia into its eastern and western parts, will open this fall, announces Georgian Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze. He said that 70-80% of the Rikoti Pass project is in the active construction phase.
The European Investment Bank has provided an additional €106.7 million to upgrade two sections of Georgia's East-West (E60) highway, the country’s main road artery, and extend the motorway to the borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated that the travel time from Tbilisi to Batumi will be just three hours by 2024 after the construction of 96 bridges and 53 tunnels will be completed on the Rikoti Pass. Currently the trip takes between five-six hours. Garibashvili noted that projects of such scale and complexity have not been implemented in the country.
A new 6 km highway section has been added to the 5 km section of the Grigoleti-Kobuleti road in Georgia’s west, which was opened last year, the country’s Infrastructure Ministry announced on Tuesday.