Turkey on Friday witnessed the opening ceremony of the seventh and last section of a major highway that will connect Istanbul’s Asian and European sides via the third bridge across the Bosporus.
An alternative transit route that bypasses the metropolis’ traffic-filled streets, the 400-kilometer (248.5-mile) North Marmara Motorway starts on the western side of Istanbul and ends in the eastern Marmara province of Sakarya.
It consists of three main sections and starts from Kınalı in the west of the metropolis, passes the Kocaeli province and ends near the Akyazı district of Sakarya province. Sections have been gradually completed and opened since 2016.
Addressing the opening ceremony, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said North Marmara Motorway would help save around TL 2.6 billion ($300 million) per year, including TL 1.65 billion in time and TL 830 million in fuel.
The infrastructure project, of which the last section included the 10.2-kilometer section between Hasdal and Habipler junctions on Istanbul’s European side, will also help carbon emissions be reduced by 351,000 tons, Erdoğan said.
The project also includes Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third crossing over the Bosporus connecting Istanbul’s European and Asian sides.
The motorway will reduce the traffic burden in the country’s largest city and its surroundings, Erdoğan said.
"The people who live in this city know the meaning of this highway, which we have opened in Istanbul, one of the most populous metropolises in the world," the president noted.
"Tekirdağ, Kocaeli and Sakarya provinces on the highway also benefit from this traffic convenience."
The North Marmara Motorway is the most important road for Istanbul Airport, one of the world's largest airports.
It provides direct access to large-scale organized industrial zones (OIZ) in Istanbul and Kocaeli provinces and provides integration between road and rail transport via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge as it accommodates vehicles as well as both high-speed and freight trains.
Alternative transportation route
The project will be one of the most important components of the Marmara region’s motorway system once connected to the Kınalı-Tekirdağ-Çanakkale-Savaştepe highway.
It will offer new transportation alternatives for the Istanbul and Marmara region as a whole.
Also addressing the ceremony, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu said the North Marmara Motorway forms a new logistics corridor that passes through the north of the Marmara region, the heart of industry and trade.
Erdoğan said the highway would also constitute a connection to the planned grand three-story Istanbul tunnel, which will cross the Bosporus. It will consist of a metro line as well as a dual motorway.
The two-lane railway will run in both directions through the middle of the tunnel and a dual highway will enable rubber-wheeled vehicles to travel on highway lanes below and above the railway.
First bridge of Kanal Istanbul
Among other major infrastructure projects, Erdoğan reiterated that they would soon break ground for the first bridge to be constructed over the huge waterway project on the edge of Istanbul linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
Officials earlier signaled this could take place as soon as June. A tender for the canal is expected to be held soon.
Floated a decade ago, the Kanal Istanbul project will connect the Black Sea north of Istanbul to the Marmara Sea to the south and intends to stem the risk posed by ships carrying dangerous goods via the Bosporus, especially oil tankers.
Karaismailoğlu earlier this month said the 45-kilometer (28-mile) project would cost around $15 billion. The six bridges spanning the canal will cost $1.4 billion, he said.
Erdoğan says the canal will protect the Bosporus, one of the world’s busiest maritime passages, by diverting traffic and is intended to prevent accidents similar to those in previous years.
"I also hope that Kanal Istanbul, which we will soon break ground for by laying the foundation for its first bridge, will be a source of pride for our country as a project that has left its mark on history," the president said Friday.