Batumi Bypass, a part of the strategic European road network, is also of crucial importance for the development of Batumi as a tourist destination, Georgian Prime Minister stated in his speech at the opening of Batumi Bypass’ 14 km road.

According to Irakli Kobakhidze, this road bypasses Batumi, in this way eliminating the city’s transit traffic.

“I want to congratulate all of you on the opening of Batumi Highway Bypass. This road, a part of the strategic European road network, is also of crucial importance for the development of Batumi as a tourist destination.

Batumi is praised by various reputable organizations as a European tourist destination on the rise and Europe"s leading place for investment. This year-round destination has even won the tourism equivalent of the Oscars. All this speaks to the city"s continuous development fostered by the state with proper planning that will continue in the future. Another example of this is Batumi Bypass’ 14 km road that is about to open today.

Bypassing Batumi, this road will eliminate the city’s transit traffic. The new road starts in Makhinjauri and ends in Khelvachauri, though it also uses transport nodes to connect to both nearby settlements and various Batumi neighborhoods. Some 43% of the transport using the old road will now utilize the bypass, in this way considerably reducing the city’s traffic, improving the living and travel conditions in Batumi, increasing the road’s throughput and transit cargo turnover. This highway bypass is in every way very important for the development of the country, the region, and the city of Batumi.

Batumi Bypass is a constituent part of the European West-East Route that starts in Spain, crosses eight countries: France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey, and ends in Georgia.

Bolstering Georgia’s connectivity function and developing its transit function is one of our key tasks. And we already have tangible results on our way to achieving this goal-vehicles already use 355 kilometers of highways in the territory of Georgia, with 287 kilometers built under our Government, after 2012, a fact we can take enormous pride in.

Next year, traveling from Tbilisi to Batumi will be possible using just this highway. To develop this road corridor, we are launching the construction of Batumi-Sarpi Road bypassing three more destinations: Gonio, Kvariati, and Sarpi. The construction of the additional 2-lane Kobuleti Bypass section will also begin. Ultimately, Tbilisi and Batumi will be connected via a 4-lane highway. And, as early as next year, it will only take 3 hours to make it from Batumi to Tbilisi. And this is important in every way: upgraded mobility, regional development, the advancement of tourism in the Region of Adjara, etc.

In our geopolitically sensitive region, Georgia plays a decisive role in the Middle Corridor, being a reliable partner and an attractive investment destination thanks to its stability, explaining why our team"s formidable efforts are channeled toward the development of international road networks, and we will surely continue in this direction in the future.

This year alone, we intend to open 90 kilometers of highways, and the opening of Batumi Bypass allows us to complete 82% of this plan, because vehicles will use 74 kilometers of highways”, - said the Head of Government.

He thanked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for supporting the project.

“I want to thank the Asian Development Bank and Leslie Lahm who represents this institution-which is so important to our country-at this event and in Georgia in general. A special thank you also goes to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), because it is with their support that this vitally important project was carried out.

I am especially thankful to the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Minister Irakli Karseladze, the Roads Department and its head and team in its entirety, every employee of the Ministry involved in the implementation of this project, every company engaged in bringing the project to fruition, and every specialist across a variety of fields. I also thank the Head of the Government of Adjara, the Chair of the Supreme Council, and representatives of Adjaras authorities who support every initiative of the central government in the region and cherish the region"s development-quite successfully to boot. Once again, I want to congratulate you on the opening of this highway”, - said Irakli Kobakhidze.

The project’s implementation saw the construction of a 14 ko 2-lane asphalt and concrete road incorporating 20 bridges and 5 tunnels. Starting in Makhinjauri and ending in Khelvachauri, the new highway bypasses Batumi and is poised to relieve the city of transit traffic in full. The project’s value made up GEL 330 million.