Infrastructure Minister: new 35-km section of Kakheti Highway in east to reduce travel time by 50%

Georgian Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze on Friday said opening of a 35-km section of the 85-km, four-lane Kakheti Highway covering the route from the capital city of Tbilisi to Sagarejo in the country’s east would reduce travel time by 50 percent.

Karseladze said construction of the “first, most challenging section” of the highway had been completed, and noted the new road would be of “great importance both for the population of the region and for the development of the international transport corridors of our country”.

The old road could not respond to the current traffic intensity with many parameters, and the construction of the main road was critically necessary. making the construction of this new main road critically necessary. The new highway, with an 185 percent increased capacity, provides services not only for the current but also for prospectively growing traffic flows. The Tbilisi-Sagarejo road will at least halve travel time, allowing users to traverse the new section in just 17 minutes”, he said.

The Minister emphasised ongoing road infrastructure developments in Kakheti, revealing that approximately 600 km of roads had been rehabilitated in the last three years and around 1,600 km constructed or rehabilitated since 2012.

He also noted a recent opening of new the 18-km Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road, a part of the 35-km Kakheti Highway stretching from the capital of Tbilisi to the central part of the eastern region, adding works for the development of the Kakheti highway continued at a “high pace”.

According to our plan, a total of 85 km of new main road will be built to Bakurtsikhe. The works for the construction of the 17-km Sagarejo-Badiauri section are currently ongoing, after its completion, the most critical 52-km section of the Kakheti road will be used for road transport”, he said.

Karseladze also noted rehabilitation of the 33 km Gombori road was nearing its completion, while “intensive works” had been ongoing on 52 km of the 65 km section of Tusheti road in north-eastern Georgia’s highland region to improve road safety.

The official also noted the road infrastructure construction and rehabilitation projects across Kakheti cost over ₾1 billion ($365 mln).