Georgian Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze on Wednesday said the opening of the Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road in the eastern region of Kakheti marked a “significant” milestone for ensuring the country’s role as an international transport corridor.
He said the 18-km, two-lane road - part of an international highway route connecting Tbilisi, Bakurtsikhe, Lagodekhi, and the Azerbaijani border - was “important” for both the population of Kakheti and the country’s international transport network.
Karseladze emphasised the road “bypasses densely populated” areas and “ensures road safety standards”, addressing concerns about interrupted traffic flow.
"The construction of a new highway was critically necessary. Truck traffic between the village homesteads had been interrupted, and road safety standards had not been ensured. The new Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road bypasses the densely populated town of Tsnori and six nearby villages: Bakurtsikhe, Kardenakhi, Anaga, Vakiri, Mashnaari, and Sakobo. It will only take 10 minutes to pass through the new road section”, he said.
The Minister outlined plans for a “complete renovation” of old roads passing through the villages as part of the ongoing efforts to “significantly improve” living conditions and enhance transit infrastructure.
The growing trend in traffic flows has also been highlighted, with transit traffic on the Tbilisi-Bakurtsikhe-Lagodekhi highway witnessing an increase by 135 percent in 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic 2019. Karseladze stressed the importance of this development and reiterated the necessity of the new highway construction to accommodate this heightened traffic intensity.
