Highways Receives the Lion's Share in Investment with 61%

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu pointed out that the total length of the divided roads will be increased to 2053 thousand kilometers in 36, and the total length of the highways will be increased to 8 thousand 325 kilometers, and said, "We have saved a total of 85 billion 581 million liras annually thanks to the shortened travel times."

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu spoke at the closing session of the 72nd Regional Highways Meeting. Karaismailoğlu stated that the works carried out in the previous year were discussed in the meetings that lasted for three days, and noted that the problems encountered and solution proposals were discussed in detail.

Noting that they have gathered strength and motivation for the new period and new projects, Karaismailoğlu said, “As members of the General Directorate of Highways, your responsibility is great and valuable. The future of our daughter, who is trying to reach her school from her home in her village in winter conditions, is our responsibility. It is our responsibility to ensure that the fruits and vegetables carried by my driver brothers during the harvest period reach the table as soon as possible without spoiling. In short, our nation's access to comfortable, fast and low-cost transportation via our highways and making their lives easier is the responsibility of all of us. For this reason, highways have always determined the fate of a region, countries and even continents, not just today. Throughout history, there have been important indicators of civilizations. The historical Persian Royal Road, which increases commercial and social mobility and cultural change, starts from our Aegean Region, Ephesus, passes through Anatolia, crosses the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and ends in the Persian Gulf. Thanks to this road, trade and cultural interactions between east and west accelerated, the civilization of the period, the Lydians; It has made significant progress in the fields of economy, science, art, culture and trade. Thanks to the historical Silk Road stretching from China to Europe, the transfer of technological and cultural developments and ideological innovations of the period to the West was carried out naturally and permanently. Even today, the Silk Road has not lost its importance. The modern Silk Road, which is especially closely related to our geography, contains very important opportunities for Turkey to increase its share in global trade.

HIGHWAYS TAKES THE LION'S SHARE IN INVESTMENT WITH 61 PERCENT

Stating that Turkey is at a key point in the transportation and communication of a region located in three continents and two large sea basins, where 1,6 billion people live with a four-hour flight, a gross national product of 38 trillion dollars and a trade volume of 7 trillion dollars is realized. Karaismailoğlu continued his speech as follows:

“As the AK Party governments, we have made efforts to make Turkey a more respected and stronger place not only in its region but also in the world since 2003. We continue this effort with our increasing motivation. We are taking historical steps to increase Turkey's share of its strategic importance and to raise the 225 billion dollars export target that we broke last year. We are writing history together, with our 1915 Çanakkale, Yavuz Sultan Selim and Osmangazi bridges, Çanakkale-Malkara, Northern Marmara, Ankara-Niğde and Istanbul-İzmir highways integrated transportation planning and applications, our logistics centers, tunnels, viaducts and investment, employment, production, export-oriented We support our growth strategy and provide the necessary infrastructure. In line with our Transport and Logistics Master Plan, 1 billion TL of the 337 trillion 812 billion TL we spent on our country's transportation and communication investments during the term of our governments belongs to highway investments. Highways took the lion's share in investment distribution with a rate of 61 percent. We increased the length of the divided highway, which was 20 kilometers 6 years ago, to 100 kilometers. We will increase the total length of our divided roads to 28 thousand 647 kilometers in 2023 and to 29 thousand kilometers in 514. Today, we have increased the length of the highway to 2053 thousand 36 kilometers. We will increase the total length of our highways to 3 kilometers in 633 and to 2023 kilometers in 3. Twenty years ago, we increased the tunnel length from 841 kilometers to 2053 kilometers today. By continuing to cross the mountains with tunnels, we will increase our total tunnel length to 8 kilometers in 325. In twenty years, we have increased the bridge and viaduct length from 50 kilometers to 651 kilometers. By crossing the valleys with viaducts to give way, we will increase our total bridge length to 2023 kilometers in 720.”

WE HAVE SAVED AN ANNUAL TOTAL 85.5 BILLION LIRA BY SHORTING TRAVEL TIME

Karaismailoğlu said, “While we have divided our country completely and connected it with highways, tunnels and viaducts, we have also established the highway system that will meet the vehicle-traffic increase in our country very easily with all these efforts,” Karaismailoğlu said, adding that the number of motor vehicles that was 2002 million 8 thousand in 655 is 3 He emphasized that it has increased twofold and reached 25 million 385 thousand.

Karaismailoğlu noted that if the length of the tunnel was not increased by 12 times, the length of the divided road was 5 times, the length of bridges and viaducts was not increased by 2,5 times, and the length of the highway was not increased to 3 thousand 633 kilometers, there would be a very serious crisis in the vehicle and traffic density on the highways, and continued as follows:

“It is a matter of dedication and seriousness to govern the state and to deliver what we have promised so far for our transportation and infrastructure services, which are worth our 84 million people. It means working for a better Turkey with the politics of service and the love of the nation. So it's a matter of vision. Our divided roads, with which we have connected 77 cities in twenty years, constitute 42 percent of our road network and carry 83 percent of our traffic load. Do you know what would have happened if we had not determined a strategy for vehicle/traffic density under the leadership of our President? According to international standards, the world average in the number of deaths in traffic accidents per 100 thousand people was 18, while Turkey could not reach a good level of 6. It is a fact that 1 life lost in traffic accidents is not just a loss of life. Then it means that the tearful spouses, families, children and old people stay. The distances that our country has covered with your efforts day and night in the center, the region and the countryside do not only result in an increase in trade and employment. At the same time, a cleaner environment means important steps to leave a better world to our youth. With the uninterrupted traffic flow that improves the operational performance of our roads, we have saved 7,3 billion hours of travel time annually. Thanks to the shortening of travel time; We saved 76 billion 458 million liras annually, 6 billion 3 million liras from time, 123 billion liras from fuel oil, 85 billion liras from maintenance items and 581 million liras in terms of environment. In addition to these, we have reduced emissions by 5 million tons.”

WE IMPLEMENTED THE TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Expressing that the progress of the construction works under the roof of the Ministry in accordance with the targets in the investment program is an important indicator of the success performance, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Karaismailoğlu said, “In order to achieve this goal, we must perform the project management processes more effectively than ever before. In this direction, we have implemented the Transportation Management System in order to systematically monitor the impact of all activities carried out in the fields on the duration and budget of the work. This system; It covers all investment projects in 5 sectors belonging to our Ministry. UYS has been designed in a structure that can analyze many projects, each of which has a different character, with a common language. Our consultant personnel, who follow the work directly in the fields in order to access the data instantly and accurately, constitute the first step of the chain by regularly transferring the progress information to the NYS. In the second step, the control engineers of the General Directorate of Highways, who are also in the field, check and approve these data. After two-stage data entry, all management teams working in the project, institution and ministry will be able to dynamically view the current performance of the projects on the reporting screens. After the use of 'Building Information modeling' in our projects within the framework of our management approach, which includes information management, strategic planning and strategic decision-making processes, the digitalization “Project Management Procedures” process in construction works has also accelerated. In addition, in line with the ongoing standardization studies as a requirement of digital management, a Consultancy Special Technical Specification has been prepared for implementation in construction work consultancy service procurement works. By fully using the Project Management Procedures in our work and operations, we will ensure that the consultants and administrations in the construction works complete the works in the targeted time, budget and quality by using the resources more efficiently while managing a project.”

OUR PLANS ARE PROJECTS THAT CARRY OUR COUNTRY TO A BRIGHT FUTURE

Karaismailoğlu stated that Turkey has already planned its transportation and communication systems for 2053 and said, “Our plans are projects that are grounded and carry our country to a bright future. We don't have time to spend the day in polemics. We have mobilized our power, resources and labor for the reconstruction of our country. We are trying to build the future of our country under the presidency of our President. Directing the transportation of the future in our highway investments; We prioritize environmentally friendly and sustainable, smart transportation strategies. Within the framework of our Transportation 2053 vision; We have determined our main sector targets in our highways as follows. We will reduce the annual freight transport weight of highways from 71 percent to 57 percent. We will reduce accident rates with fast and safe road infrastructure equipped with smart and autonomous technologies. By establishing electric charging infrastructure all over our country according to the travel plans; We will increase the use of electric and alternative energy instead of fossil fuels on highways. We are the people of the road civilization. In our language and culture, they say that those who apply a good method in what they do, 'know the way'. They define heading towards a good job as 'finding a way'. Countless songs and folk songs were written and laments were made on the roads. We are the heirs of the road civilization. We will always keep open the roads leading to the hearts of our Kadirşinas people,” he concluded.