The Istanbul-Izmir Highway, which reduces the road transportation between Istanbul and Izmir to 3.5 hours and employs 4 thousand 85 people, shortens the distance of Izmir to Bursa, Kocaeli and Istanbul, contributing to the economy, agriculture and tourism of the cities it passes through.
According to the information received by the AA correspondent from the General Directorate of Highways, the project, implemented with the build-operate-transfer financing model, covers a 426-kilometer route, of which 384 kilometers is a highway and 42 kilometers is a connection road.
The highway also includes Osmangazi Bridge with a length of 2 thousand 907 meters, 38 viaducts of 21 thousand 571 meters, 2 of which are made of steel, and 3 tunnels of 6 thousand 445 meters, 178 bridges, 2 of which are ecological overpasses, 715 hydraulic box culverts, 291 underpass box culverts, 35 intersections, 33 service areas, 6 maintenance operation centers, main control center and 21 toll booths.
The highway, which provides employment to thousands of people in the region from its construction to operation, as well as transportation and technical facilities, continues to contribute to the regional economy. Almost all of the employment consists of the people of the region.
According to the employment distribution in areas such as recreation facilities, maintenance and operation, 4 thousand 85 personnel are employed, of which 1611 are at the Highway Maintenance and Operations and 2,474 at the Highway Service Facilities, and 1772 women, which corresponds to 43% of the personnel, are working on the road.
Highway integration of Aegean and Marmara regions will be completed
With the completion of the Istanbul-Izmir Highway, the expectations of the Aegean and Marmara regions in terms of transportation infrastructure were also met. Thus, it was possible to create new investment areas needed by the industry. Port, rail and air transportation systems in the region were integrated with land transportation projects.
The Marmara and Aegean regions, which form the backbone of the Turkish economy by being combined with Edirne-Istanbul-Ankara, Northern Marmara, Izmir-Aydin and Izmir-Cesme highways, were connected with a fully access-controlled highway network.
The highway integration of the entire Aegean and Marmara Region will be completed with the merger of the highway with the 1915 Canakkale Bridge, which is under construction with the Malkara-Canakkale section, and the Kinali-Tekirdag-Canakkale-Savastepe Highway.
An annual reduction of 451,141 tons is expected in emissions
With the Istanbul-Izmir Highway, the distance between these two metropolitan cities was shortened by 100 kilometers and the travel time, which took 8.5 hours, was reduced to 3.5 hours.
Osmangazi Bridge, which connects the two sides of the Gulf of Izmit, is the most important part of the project. The gulf crossing, which takes 60 minutes by ferry and 1.5 hours by road, takes 6 minutes by Osmangazi Bridge.
It is seen that the use of Osmangazi Bridge for travels on the Gebze-Altinova line is the most economical option and preferred in the analyzes made by considering fuel, depreciation, time and environmental effects.
With the highway project, it is expected that the annual savings amount will be ₺4.12 billion according to the estimates for 2023. In addition, an annual reduction of 451,141 tons is expected in emissions.
Contributions to the cities where the Istanbul-Izmir Highway passes
Thanks to the project, Balıkesir and Manisa and the regions around Istanbul and Bursa exceeded their capacities and became the new attraction for industrial investments. In addition, an additional contribution was made to the developing industry of the Eskisehir-Bozuyuk-Bilecik region located around the route, thus paving the way for new investments in the region.
The highway, which shortens the transportation to the Mediterranean Region, which has a high tourism and trade potential, increases the number of visitors to tourism centers such as Cesme, Foca, Dikili and Bergama by extending Izmir’s tourism season.
It also contributes to the decrease in transportation costs in exports to Europe from the Aegean Region, which is Turkey’s largest food exporter.
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz