ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 11. Kazakhstan plans to complete the reconstruction of the Atyrau (Kazakhstan)-Astrakhan (Russia) highway by the end of 2024, Trend reports, citing the QazAvtoJol (national company).
Thus, reconstruction of the section of the highway from kilometer 616 to kilometer 833 to the border with Russia, with a total length of 277 kilometers, is underway. Work began in 2018. To date, 60 kilometers of the road have been completed and put into operation; the remaining 217 kilometers (from kilometer 616 to kilometer 833) are currently being reconstructed.
Both local and foreign companies from Italy, Türkiye, and Azerbaijan are participating in the project's implementation, according to QazAvtoJol, in accordance with international standards.
This year, contracting companies began construction and installation work. At the moment, about 400 units of specialized road construction equipment and more than 650 employees are involved in the project.
Over the past year, work on the construction of a roadbed with a volume of 3.7 million cubic meters for 210 km of road was completed on section km 616–833. Additionally, workers laid 187.5 km of base course and 187 km of coarse asphalt concrete base course.
According to QazAvtoJol, the shortage of inert material in the region is one of the main reasons for delays in the execution of work on this project. Rail transports crushed stone to the site from the Mugalzhar and Bershugir stations, situated over 1000 km away from the project site.
In 2023, Kazakhstan repaired or built 10,700 roadways of republican and local importance. The official data shows a provision of 753 billion tenge (about $1.64 billion) for these purposes, a 14 percent increase from the previous year.
Furthermore, today, eight international highway corridors with a total length of approximately 13,000 km pass through Kazakhstan's territory. These include Western Europe, Western China, the North and South, TRACECA, and others.