Landslide risk leads to temporary closure of Rikoti Pass
Rikoti Pass, a crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia, will be closed between Thursday and Friday to all types of vehicles due to a risk of landslide. Photo: Roads Department of Georgia
Tweet 
Share
Rikoti Pass, a crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia, will be closed between Thursday and Friday to all types of vehicles due to a risk of landslide, the Roads Department of Georgia said on Thursday.
The body said the road of the Pass would be closed due to the thread on the kilometre 149 section of the Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze highway.
Drivers will be redirected via the Gomi-Sachkhere-Chiatura-Zestaponi road, however traffic of trailers and semi-trailers is also restricted on the latter.
Traffic on the Rikoti Pass crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia has been restored after professionals cleared roads following heavy snowfall, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.
Heavy snowfall caused traffic restrictions on several roads of domestic and international importance in western part of Georgia on Thursday.
One person died and four, including a minor, were injured on Tuesday evening as strong winds uprooted trees, downed power lines and caused property damage in western Georgia.
The Roads Department of Georgia on Tuesday said a slope of the Rikoti Pass dividing Georgia into its eastern and western parts had collapsed on Monday due to a landslide prior to reinforcement works planned on the section.
Giorgi Tsereteli, the Chairman of the Roads Department of Georgia, on Friday said Rikoti Pass, a major crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia, was closed to all types of vehicles due to a risk of a landslide, and added its professionals were working to restore traffic “as soon as possible”.
The Land Transport Agency of Georgia on Tuesday announced changes for traffic rules for international carriers at the Kazbegi customs checkpoint on the border between Georgia and Russia.
Vehicle traffic on Rikoti Pass, a major crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia, was restored on Saturday under a “special regime”, with the recommendation of specialists, the Roads Department of Georgia said.
Construction of the new Rikoti Highway is set to be completed this year, the Roads Department of Georgia said on Monday while rejecting media reports that suggested the work had been delayed from its original deadline of 2022.
The Interior Ministry of Georgia on Tuesday rejected recent media reports on vehicle traffic disruption on the Rikoti Pass section “for several days” as “misinformation”.
The special traffic mode on the Rikoti Pass crossing between the eastern and western parts of Georgia will be lifted before the start of the summer season, Georgia’s Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze announced on Tuesday.
Light and passenger traffic will be able to use Rikoti Pass, a major crossing between the eastern and western parts of Georgia, for three hours longer daily, the Roads Department has announced.
The Roads Department of Georgia on Monday imposed traffic restrictions on several sections in the west and north of the country due to heavy snowfall.
Firefighters of the Emergency Management Service, patrol police and criminal police departments have been mobilised across regions of Georgia to help citizens amid deteriorated weather conditions with strong winds, heavy precipitation and storms, the body said on Monday.
Tornike Rijvadze, the Chairman of the Government of the western Georgian region of Adjara, on Monday inspected areas affected by heavy rainfall and storm in cities of Batumi and Kobuleti.