Kızkalesi section of Çeşmeli-Taşucu Highway is closed to traffic

The announcement of the General Directorate of Highways that the Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section of the Çeşmeli-Erdemli-Silifke-Taşucu Highway will be opened to transportation was published in the Official Gazette.

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, in his written statement, stated that the construction works on the 52-kilometer Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section of the Çeşmeli-Erdemli-Silifke-Taşucu Highway, which will strengthen the transportation infrastructure between Mersin's tourism, agriculture, industry and logistics centers, have been completed and said, "We will open our highway to traffic as of 00.01 on the night between October 18 and October 19." gave the information.

Pointing out that the official opening ceremony will be held after the Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi Highway is opened to traffic, Uraloğlu noted that they will hold the official opening of the project at a later date with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Uraloğlu shared the information that the Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section is 52 kilometers long, including 41 kilometers of highway and 11 kilometers of connection road, and continued as follows:

"Within the scope of our project, we have built 10 interchanges, 7 tunnels and 5 viaducts. We have also strengthened our transportation infrastructure with 2 highway service facilities, 6 toll collection areas, a maintenance operation center and a tunnel operation center. Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section will significantly reduce the traffic load, especially in the summer months. We will transfer a significant part of the transit traffic on the existing state road to the highway. Thus, we will reduce the travel time from up to 2.5 hours in the summer months to 18 minutes. With our project, we will reduce the time of travel from up to 2.5 hours to 18 minutes per year. "We will save 3 billion 20 million liras, 2.68 billion liras from fuel and 340 million liras from fuel, and we will reduce carbon emissions by 17 thousand tons per year."

Pointing out that the highway will ease transportation in the coastal areas of Mersin, one of the important tourism centers of the Mediterranean Region, Uraloğlu stated that the project, which will provide uninterrupted and high-standard transportation by connecting Mersin's tourism regions to the existing highway network, will allow transit traffic on the D400 Antalya-Mersin and D715 Konya-Mersin state roads to reach the highway network without entering the city centers.

Uraloğlu emphasized that the highway will facilitate access to Çukurova International Airport and contribute to the development of tourism, industry and agricultural production in the region.

Stating that the project is of strategic importance in terms of international transportation corridors, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Uraloğlu said:

Source: TRT Haber Ekonomi RSS (Open Press / Translated Full Text)