Baku, Azerbaijan, July 31
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will allocate a loan to Georgia to co-finance the construction of the Tskere-Kobi tunnel, which forms a part of the Kvesheti-Kobi road section of the Jinvali-Larsi road (North-South Corridor), Trend reports via bm.ge.
The project will be implemented by the Roads Department under the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia. The total cost of the project is $558.6 million; $60 million will be provided by EBRD, $415 million will be allocated by the Asian Development Bank, and $83.6 million will be provided by Georgia.
The central section of the corridor connecting Kvesheti to Kobi needs to be fully realigned, as the existing 35-km road is unsafe, overloaded with heavy traffic, and is difficult to maintain in winter, resulting in road closure for extended periods during this season. A new 23-km bypass road from Kvesheti to Kobi will be built to allow more traffic to travel on it safely and remain fully operational all year around.
In addition, the project will provide five km of all-weather rural roads that will serve roadside villages. The infrastructure will also include five tunnels with a total length of about 11.6 km (the longest of which is about 9 km), and six bridges with a total length of about 1.6 km.
The project is a priority for the Government of Georgia and is part of a comprehensive road rehabilitation program, which aims to transform the country into a transport, logistics and a trade hub connecting Europe and Asia.
The project also envisages the provision of better-quality transit links in the Caucasus region with an emphasis on the country's highways for transit trade within the East-West and North-South transport corridor projects, which are being implemented with Azerbaijan’s large investments.