Traffic restored on Rikoti Pass as roads cleared following snowfall
Traffic on the Rikoti Pass crossing between eastern and western parts of Georgia has been restored after professionals cleared roads following heavy snowfall. Photo: Interior Ministry
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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.
Employees of the Roads Department of Georgia and Patrol Police offering water to passengers stuck on the Rikoti Pass. Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs
Drivers and passengers of vehicles that had been stranded by adverse weather conditions were released on the cleared roads of the kilometre 132 to 163 section of the Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze highway, the body added.
Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs
It added heavy machinery had been used by the Roads Department overnight to ensure the clearing of the roads.
The vehicles had been stranded on the section for hours following the snowfall. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Georgian service on Thursday also said two trucks had crashed on the Pass in the adverse conditions.
Heavy snowfall and strong winds continued to cause disruptions across Georgia on Wednesday, with road access restricted and residential locations left without power following successive days of adverse weather conditions.
Heavy overnight snow and minor avalanches between Monday and Tuesday have led to traffic restrictions on sections of roads in Georgia’s northwest, where villages have also been left without power, the Mayor of Svaneti province’s Mestia municipality said on Tuesday.
The Roads Department of Georgia has imposed traffic restrictions on several sections across the country following heavy snowfall on Monday.
Roads across Georgia have been closed or restricted for certain types of traffic following snowfall and blizzard conditions, the Roads Department said on Tuesday.
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.
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.
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”.