Infrastructure Minister: opening of Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road “important” for development of Georgia’s transport corridor

Georgian Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze on Wednesday said the opening of the Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road in the eastern region of Kakheti marked a “significant” milestone for ensuring the country’s role as an international transport corridor.

He said the 18-km, two-lane road - part of an international highway route connecting Tbilisi, Bakurtsikhe, Lagodekhi, and the Azerbaijani border - was “important” for both the population of Kakheti and the country’s international transport network.

Karseladze emphasised the road “bypasses densely populated” areas and “ensures road safety standards”, addressing concerns about interrupted traffic flow.

• Georgian PM: new Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road to “significantly improve” traffic, safety standards

The construction of a new highway was critically necessary. Truck traffic between the village homesteads had been interrupted, and road safety standards had not been ensured. The new Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road bypasses the densely populated town of Tsnori and six nearby villages: Bakurtsikhe, Kardenakhi, Anaga, Vakiri, Mashnaari, and Sakobo [...] It will only take 10 minutes to pass through the new road section”, he said.

The Minister outlined plans for a “complete renovation” of old roads passing through the villages as part of the ongoing efforts to “significantly improve” living conditions and enhance transit infrastructure.

The growing trend in traffic flows has also been highlighted, with transit traffic on the Tbilisi-Bakurtsikhe-Lagodekhi highway witnessing an increase by 135 percent in 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic 2019. Karseladze stressed the importance of this development and reiterated the necessity of the new highway construction to accommodate this heightened traffic intensity.

The Minister also noted progress made on the 35-km section of the Tbilisi-Sagarejo four-lane highway, with plans to open the remaining sections to traffic in the near future.

• First section of Kakheti Highway opens, project to be completed in 2024

Next year, the 17-km section of Sagarejo-Badiauri road will be opened, we can say that road transport will move in a new way on the most critical 52-km section of the Kakheti road”, Karseladze said.

He also added a total of 85-km of road was planned to be constructed to Bakurtsikhe.

Since 2021, we have already been using the Gurjaani bypass road, a 35.3 km section will be built to extend the Gurjaani road to Telavi, a 40 km section to Lagodekhi, and under these conditions, [drivers] will arrive from Tbilisi to Telavi in ​​just one hour and 20 minutes via the Kakheti main roads”, Karseladze said.

When discussing the development of Kakheti's road infrastructure, the Minister highlighted the significance of the rehabilitation of the 30 km section of Tianeti-Akhmeta, which was completed last year. This road now connects the two regions and reduces travel time from two hours to 20 minutes.

Additionally, the 67 km Gumbati-Khirsa-Enamta-Sabatlo-Samtatskaro road, the 11 km Chumlaki-Alaverdi road, and the complete rehabilitation of the 34 km Gombori road were also mentioned. Karseladze also emphasised the importance of ongoing work to improve road safety, particularly on the 52 km of the 65 km Tusheti road rehabilitation section.

The Minister said the projects cost over ₾1 billion ($368mln) and thanked the Roads Department of Georgia, construction and supervision companies, as well as the Asian Development Bank, underscoring the importance of collaboration in advancing the country’s infrastructure development.