“Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi Highway will be opened to traffic on October 19”

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.

In his written statement, Minister Uraloğlu 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.

"THE 2.5 HOUR JOURNEY WILL BE REDUCED TO 18 MINUTES"

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 built 10 interchanges, 7 tunnels and 5 viaducts. We also strengthened our transportation infrastructure with 2 highway service facilities, 6 toll collection areas, a maintenance operation center and a tunnel operation center. The 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 save 3 billion 20 million lira, including 2.68 billion lira from time and 340 million lira 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.

LAND CONNECTIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENT ROAD WILL BE STRENGTHENED

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

"Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi Highway will provide important infrastructure support to the highway leg of the Development Road by strengthening the connections between Mersin's ports, production centers and the existing highway network.

"With our project, which is a continuation of the Tarsus-Adana-Gaziantep Highway open to traffic, we will also strengthen the uninterrupted highway connection on the Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep-Şanlıurfa axis."