The Mayor of Tbilisi said that large-scale rehabilitation works are underway on Rustaveli Avenue, which also cause serious discomfort in terms of traffic movement.

As he noted, the municipality is not just changing the asphalt surface on the avenue - the depreciated underground utilities and infrastructure, which remained untouched for decades, will be fully renewed.

“I think it is redundant to explain how important of a process taking place on the capital’s main avenue, however, is it is essential for the public to have full information about each stage and detail of the rehabilitation. The maintenance and development of Rustaveli Avenue is not just a municipal or infrastructural issue. We are talking about an avenue where many important pages of our country’s history were written. Rustaveli is the face of our capital and is one of the main symbols of not only our historical memory but also of modern Georgia. The works we are carrying out are large-scale and fundamental. We are not just changing the asphalt surface, we are fully renewing the depreciated underground utilities and infrastructure that have been left untouched for decades”, -said Kakha Kaladze.

According to him, September will be even more difficult in terms of traffic, as the population returns to the city and the academic process begins.

“I understand very well that all of this is accompanied by serious discomfort, first of all, for the people living in the surrounding area - traffic problems, noise, dust, and temporary restrictions on utilities. The most difficult period is still ahead of us. From September, a large part of the citizens will return to the city, the academic process will start, and vehicular traffic will increase significantly. I will tell you directly, for about two months, Tbilisi will have a difficult period in terms of movement. We are working as much as possible on refining alternative traffic schemes to reduce the load as much as feasible”, - noted the Mayor.

As he underlined, the full rehabilitation works will be completed by the end of November: “We plan to restore vehicular traffic by September 10 in the road section from the intersection of Chovelidze Street to the so-called Elbakidze Descent, where the works on the lower layers will be completed by that time. In parallel, the works, which are being carried out on a 24-hour basis, will continue. The only serious disruptive factor is bad weather, however, even on days when it was raining heavily in Tbilisi, the works did not stop. Here, I would also like to thank each employee of the contractor companies who conscientiously perform their duties and well understand that working on the capital's main avenue requires special responsibility”.