Minister Karaismailoğlu said, "With the Zigana Tunnel, we will save 272 million liras annually, 92 million liras from time and 180 million liras from fuel oil. In other words, we will save 272 million liras to our nation's pockets, to our Treasury."
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu said, "With the Zigana Tunnel, we will save 272 million liras annually, 92 million liras from time and 180 million liras from fuel. In other words, we will save 272 million liras to our nation's pockets, to our Treasury."
Minister Karaismailoğlu, in his press statement at the entrance of the New Zigana Tunnel, which will be opened by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that they will increase Trabzon's production and trade activities, and that they will bring another magnificent work to Trabzon and to the region by opening the Zigana Tunnel, one of the longest double tube road tunnels in the country and Europe and one of the few in the world.
Emphasizing that they have turned an important engineering project into reality on behalf of Turkey, Karaismailoğlu said, "Not a day goes by without a new opening in our entire country and in our beautiful Trabzon. Thanks to both our government's investments and the efforts of AK Party local governments, we continue to reconstruct and revive our country and Trabzon with giant projects."
Karaismailoğlu, noting that Turkey has a very important geographical position; "For this reason, planning the transportation and communication strategy with its regional and global dimensions is very important. Based on this fact, we saw international integration, especially in the field of transportation, as one of the most important dynamos of economic development."
Pointing out that they have made all their transportation strategies by taking into account the global trends during the last 21 years under the leadership of President Erdoğan, Karaismailoğlu continued his words as follows:
"As the Ministry, it was among our priorities to improve our transportation infrastructures, expand these networks and complete the missing connections on international transportation routes with an investment of approximately 193 billion dollars. At this point, we need to look at the Zigana Tunnel, which we built on the route that connects Trabzon, which is the most important trade center of the Eastern Black Sea Region, to Bayburt, Aşkale and Erzurum via Gümüşhane. We cannot see the Zigana Tunnel as a project that only concerns Trabzon, Gümüşhane and Erzurum. It has a vital importance for all Middle Eastern countries, especially for Iran and Iraq, to reach the Black Sea.
Emphasizing that this project is one of the most important stages of his vision and work that connects the world to Turkey, Karaismailoğlu said, "At this point, I would like to remind you of our 'Kalkınma Yolu' project for the construction of a highway and railway transportation corridor stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Turkish border, which is defined as the New Silk Road. The 'Kalkınma Yolu' is a strategically important project for both Turkey, Iraq and the entire region. The Kalkınma Yolu Project, which includes 1200 kilometers of railway and highway, will connect Turkey to Faw Port in the Persian Gulf.
Stating that the 'Kalkınma Yolu' will bring a breath of fresh air to the Middle Corridor, Karaismailoğlu said, "The 'Kalkınma Yolu', which will bring a breath of fresh air the Middle Corridor, will affect a wide region from Europe to the Gulf countries. Our north-south transportation corridor, which starts from Trabzon and extends to Habur, will continue from Habur and reach the Persian Gulf through the 'Kalkınma Yolu', and a new trade corridor will be formed.
"We have also designed many roads and tunnels in the region"
Minister Karaismailoğlu stated that the Black Sea Coastal Road connects the coastal settlements with a high standard transportation network, and said:
"Thanks to this road, which was completed in 2007 during the AK Party period under the leadership of our President, the whole region came to life in the east-west corridor from Samsun to Batumi. For this reason, we have also designed many roads and tunnels in the region within the scope of the improvement works on the north-south stems."
Karaismailoğlu stated that they completed many of them such as the Ovit Tunnel, the Cankurtaran Tunnel, the Salmankaş Tunnel, the Salarha Tunnel, the İkizdere Hurmalık-1 and Hurmalık-2 Tunnels, and the Eğribel Tunnel and put them into the service of the nation; "The New Zigana Tunnel, which brings us together, is one of the most important projects realized within the scope of the north-south stems. In addition to intensive maintenance works, investments that increase the standard of the road were also designed to ensure uninterrupted traffic flow throughout the year under harsh winter conditions."
"The New Zigana Tunnel left its mark on the route"
Recalling that the Zigana Tunnel was first opened to traffic in 1988, Karaismailoğlu used the following statements:
"However, the transportation standard of the route, where various tunnel projects have been implemented, has increased rapidly, especially within the scope of the divided road works initiated as the highway policy of the AK Party governments in 2002. Today, the 586-kilometer section of the 615-kilometer road, which starts from Trabzon and extends through Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Erzurum, to Ağrı and the Iranian border, serves as a divided road."
Stating that 33 tunnels with a total length of 42 kilometers have been completed together with the new Zigana Tunnel, which they will open on this route, and that the effect of seasonal conditions on transportation has been minimized, Karaismailoğlu said, "Construction work continues in 3 double tube tunnels with a total length of 14 kilometers. As I have just mentioned, the New Zigana Tunnel, which is one of the longest double tube road tunnels in our country and Europe with its 14.5 kilometers length, left its mark on the route where many works such as construction and improvement have been carried out for almost two centuries."
"There are a total of 4 ventilation shaft structures in 2 stations"
Minister Karaismailoğlu also gave information about the details of the tunnel and road project to be opened, and said:
“We built the new Zigana Tunnel as a 14.5-kilometer double-tube route that connects Trabzon to Bayburt, Aşkale and Erzurum via Gümüşhane and carries a high traffic load. The tunnel project starts at 1015 meters in the Maçka / Başarköy location on the 44th kilometer of the Trabzon-Aşkale Road and extends to 1264 meters with an inclination of 3.3 percent. It is connected to Köstere-Gümüshane Road, which is located at the 67th kilometer from here, with an interchange at 1212 meters.
Pointing out that there is also a 600-meter connection road within the scope of the project, Karaismailoğlu said, “Zigana Tunnel ventilation systems have been created with vertical shaft structures built for the first time in Turkey in road tunnels. Within the scope of the project, there are a total of 4 ventilation shaft structures in 2 stations as 1 clean and 1 polluted air at each station.
Karaismailoğlu also emphasized that they have upgraded the 17-kilometer-long Maçka-Karahava Highway, which starts from Maçka to the entrance of the Zigana Tunnel and serves as a single road, to the divided road standard, and continued as follows:
"In this section, there are 7 tunnels with a total length of 6,665 meters, 5 single tubes with a length of 3 thousand 920 meters, 2 double tubes with a length of 2 thousand 745 meters, and 33 bridges with a length of 2 thousand 561 meters. Thus, within the scope of our project, together with the New Zigana Tunnel, we have turned a 32-kilometer section of which approximately 21 kilometers into tunnels and put it into service as divided roads.
"Thanks to the project, 90 road bends have disappeared"
Karaismailoğlu stated that with the construction of the New Zigana Tunnel, the 12-meter-wide state road became a 2x2 lane divided highway; "The elevation, which was 2 thousand 10 meters at the summit of Zigana and was lowered to 1825 meters in the 1st tunnel, was lowered 810 meters with the New Zigana Tunnel to 1015 meters. Thanks to the project, 90 road bends on the current route have disappeared. The geometry of the road improved, with the slope decreasing from 7.7 percent to 3.3 percent. The route was shortened by 8 kilometers, reducing the travel time to 30 minutes for cars and 60 minutes for heavy-duty vehicles.
Karaismailoğlu stated that the uninterrupted and comfortable flow of the traffic, which was interrupted in winter conditions, was established and said:
"We have ensured the smooth flow of traffic to the settlements, ports, tourism and industrial centers on the Black Sea coast, and contributed to faster international trade with domestic land transportation. We have eliminated the problems such as stone falling from the steep slopes on the existing Trabzon-Gümüshane line. With the conversion of the Maçka-Karahava section to a divided road, we raised the standard of the road from Trabzon to Erzurum, Ağrı and Iran border, and established fast and safe transportation.
Drawing attention to the savings that the Zigana Tunnel will provide, Karaismailoğlu said, "With the Zigana Tunnel, we will save 92 million liras from time and 180 million liras from fuel, totaling 272 million liras annually. In other words, we will save 272 million liras to our nation's pockets and treasury every year. In addition, we will protect the unique nature of our region by reducing carbon emissions by 21 thousand tons per year."
Emphasizing that the Zigana Tunnel is one of the proud works of Turkish engineering, Minister Karaismailoğlu said, "One hundred percent domestic and national resources were used in the construction, design and control of the Zigana Tunnel and its connection roads, and our project was built by Turkish engineers and workers. This pride is the pride of Turkish engineering, this pride belongs to all of us."
"Some people continue their politics of lying and slander"
Also criticizing the opposition, Karaismailoğlu said:
"While we are making a policy of works and services, some people continue their politics of lies and slander. They have set aside the interests of our country and our nation, and have attempted to discredit the projects and services we produce in this way with lies, slander and defamation. AK Party governments have not left our nation at the mercy of CHP municipalities. Unfortunately, there is a CHP mentality that cannot tolerate even seeing all the works that are in the interest of our country and our nation.But there is one thing they forget that the actions of our AK Party, which has been joining forces with its nation for 21 years, is the best answer to these lies. Our nation knows very well who brings water and breaks the jug. The AK Party's actions and its services to this nation will never end."
After the speeches, Minister Karaismailoğlu passed through the new Zigana Tunnel with TOGG.
Minister Karaismailoğlu was accompanied by General Director of Highways Abdülkadir Uraloğlu, Deputy Mayor of Metropolitan Municipality Atilla Ataman, Mayor of Maçka Koray Koçhan, AK Party Provincial President Sezgin Mumcu and many other officials.