Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, who came to Hakkari for various contacts, examined the works carried out within the scope of Highways investments.
During the visit held on Saturday, December 7, Minister Uraloğlu, who received information about the ongoing works of the Yeniköprü Tunnel on the Yeniköprü Yüksekova Road, one of the most important transportation projects under construction in Hakkari, together with his delegation, reminded the highway investments made in our country and provided information on the subject:
“In 2002, when the total number of vehicles was only 8,5 million and the length of divided roads was 6.101 kilometers, the average travel time on intercity roads was 40 kilometers per hour. Today, the number of our vehicles is approaching 30,5 million. Despite this, the average travel time has increased to 90 kilometers per hour. We achieved this by increasing the length of our divided roads from 6.101 kilometers to 29.653 kilometers. We crossed mountains that were said to be impassable with the comfort of tunnels, and continents separated by seas with bridges and tunnels. While only 6 of our provinces were connected with the comfort of divided roads, we connected 77 provinces with divided roads. We increased the total length of our bridges, which was 2002 kilometers in 311, to 790 kilometers. Again, within the scope of tunnel construction works, we increased the length of our tunnels, which was only 50 kilometers, to 767 kilometers. With these breakthroughs in highways, we established road networks at international standards and connected the north to the south and the east to the west. We also continue new projects that bring us together, such as the Yeniköprü Yüksekova Road and Yüksekova Ring Road.”
“We invested exactly 46 billion liras for the development of Hakkari’s infrastructure”
Minister Uraloğlu, who stated that they strived to develop the transportation network in order to ensure the sustainability of the potential and development of Hakkari, one of the rising stars of the region, reported that they made a total investment of 22 billion liras for the development of the transportation and communication infrastructure in Hakkari in the last 46 years, increased the length of divided roads from just one kilometer to 102 kilometers; introduced the citizens of Hakkari to the comfort of hot asphalt on the roads by laying 167 kilometers of bituminous hot-mix asphalt, increased the total number of 100 bridges of 22 meters to 3,2 bridges of 50 kilometers, and completed additional works on 600 tunnels of 4 meters and 2,8 more tunnels of 9 kilometers.
We are improving the geometry of the existing route…
Sharing the information that they continue with new projects, Minister Uraloğlu expressed the following about the projects: “We designed the Yeniköprü Yüksekova Road, which started construction in 2017, as a 16,2-kilometer long and the Yüksekova Peripheral Road as a 7,3-kilometer long bituminous hot mixture coated divided road standard. With our project with a total length of 23,5 kilometers, we will turn the existing 12-meter state road into a divided road with two lanes in both directions, ensuring that our road can be passed in a high standard with the comfort of a divided road and a tunnel. We will eliminate the sharp curves and the section with high flood damage risk on the Hakkari Yüksekova Road, and we will also eliminate problems such as falling rocks from slopes with high landslide potential. Thus, we will ensure the safety of life and property on the route. By improving the geometry of the existing route, we will shorten the 33-kilometer route by 7 kilometers and reduce travel time from 40 minutes to only 15 minutes. Thus, upon completion of our project, we will save 141,1 million TL in time and 52,2 million TL in fuel, totaling 193,3 million TL per year. We will contribute to the annual reduction of carbon emissions that harm the environment by 3.600 tons.”
“We aim to complete the Yeniköprü Tunnel.”
Minister Uraloğlu, who also made a statement about the point reached so far regarding the ongoing works, said that 2,1 kilometers of the Yüksekova Ring Road were completed at the wear level and the entire road will be coated with bituminous hot mixture; reminding that the excavation works in the Yeniköprü Tunnel on the Yeniköprü Yüksekova Road were completed last year, he stated that since that day, 3.965 meters of the tunnel were completed at the wear level and thus the majority of the work was completed, and that excavation support works in the T-2 Tunnel started on December 9, 2023, and approximately 216 meters of progress was made in both tubes.
