BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Georgia plans to complete construction of all international highways, resolved problems with water supply and municipal landfills by 2030, Trend reports referring to Georgian media.
According to Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, up to 32 billion lari ($10 billion) is planned to be spent on infrastructure and regional development of Georgia in the next 10 years.
“Some 32 billion lari ($10 billion) will be spent on the development of regions, infrastructure, roads, bridges, water supply in order to completely change the picture in almost all municipalities of the country. In fact, this should be a plan for renovation and modernization,” Garibashvili said.
In addition, it is planned to spend 17 billion lari ($5.5 billion) on the development of road infrastructure in 10 years.
According to the head of the Ministry of Regional Development Irakli Karseladze, at this stage, intensive work is being carried out at the Rikotsky Pass, where more than 70 bridges and 47 tunnels are being built at the same time. Already in September, the first section of this difficult section will open - 2.5 kilometers long and consisting of six bridges and four tunnels.
The road through the Rikotsky Pass is part of the East-West highway, or the European transit road E-60. In general, the length of the new road being built here will be 51.6 kilometers. The project, which costs about $1 billion, should be completed in 2024.
As a result, if today the road from the Red Bridge (border with Azerbaijan) to Sarpi (border with Turkey from the side of Adjara) takes eight hours, after the completion of the construction of the highway, the travel time will be reduced to 4-4.5 hours.
During his speech, Karseladze also talked about the implementation of the Kvesheti-Kobi project, which is an important part of the North-South corridor highway modernization project.
Within the framework of the project, it is planned to build a two-lane asphalt concrete road, as well as five bridges and five tunnels. One of the tunnels - nine kilometers long and 15 meters in diameter - will be dug under the Cross Pass; it should become the largest in Georgia. The work will be carried out by the Chinese company China Railway 23rd Bureau Group Co.
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