The Turkish government has started to canvass public opinion regarding a major new highway project connecting Istanbul to the northern Aegean region. The foundation of the multibillion project will be laid on 18th of March 2017 and the plan was to complete the project in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the foundation of modern Turkey. The Kınalı-Tekirdağ-Çanakkale-Savaştepe highway is planned to connect Istanbul with the Aegean province of Balıkesir through a bridge over Çanakkale, which will be dubbed “Gallipoli (Çanakkale) 1915 Bridge” in honor of the Ottoman victory in the battle of Gallipoli. The highway section is expected to cost around 2.9 billion euros and the bridge is expected to cost around 4.6 billion euros. 

The highway will be 324-km long in total, excluding the bridge, which will be built upon a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. A tender for the bridge will be launched soon, said Transportation Minister Ahmet Arslan and noted that Korean and Chinese companies have already shown interest. The project is planned to be comprised of 31 viaducts, five tunnels, 30 crossover roads, and 143 underpasses and overpasses in total.

Source: hurriyetdailynews