An alternative highway to ease Istanbul’s traffic

Transportation, Maritime and Communication Minister, Lütfi Elvan, announced an important project aimed at easing Istanbul's busy traffic. Elvan said that an alternative highway will be built as an alternative to the two major highways that already exist in Istanbul, the D-100 and the TEM Motorway.

"The new highway will start from Akyazı in the province of Sakarya, travel through the upper part of İzmit and merge with the Northern Marmara Highway," Elvan said, adding that a passenger travelling from Ankara, Turkey's capital, will have a third route to choose from along with the TEM Motorway and E-5. The route will connect to the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Istanbul's third bridge, where it will reach Kınalı in the province of Tekirdağ. From there, it will merge with the TEM Motorway. This third route will help ease Istanbul's horrendous traffic problems, and from Tekirdağ, it will also connect to the highway in Balıkesir through the province of Çanakkale - providing additional routes to ease traffic congestion.

Elvan also announced that as of June, passengers will be able to cross the İzmit Gulf Bridge. Moreover, at the end of 2015, it will be possible to travel between Istanbul and Bursa via the bridge. "It takes about one-and-a-half hours to reach Yalova from Istanbul, but now this distance will only take about 15 minutes," Elvan said.