Construction of the motorway on the Rikoti Pass has been completed, and from midday on December 30, traffic will be fully opened on the new 52-kilometre, four-lane highway through Rikoti.

According to the Government of Georgia, the Rikoti highway is 52 kilometres in length and comprises 51 tunnels and 97 bridges. Among these, the longest tunnel is one kilometre and 800 metres in length, whilst the longest bridge is one kilometre and 362 metres.

“The new motorway is fully equipped with a modern lighting system and meets international road safety standards,” the Georgian Government’s statement notes.

According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Georgia, the opening of the road will reduce the journey distance by eight kilometres and halve travel time.

“As a result of the completion of the new road construction at Rikoti, from December 30, motor vehicles will benefit from an uninterrupted, four-lane highway from Tbilisi to Samtredia, which will significantly improve the country’s internal and transit traffic.

Construction of the four-lane motorway on the Rikoti Pass began in four sections in 2019. Traffic was opened in stages; the first two-kilometre section of the road entered service in 2020. The new Rikoti motorway bypasses all settlements, including the town of Zestaponi, reducing traffic through populated areas and enhancing road safety.

As part of the project, commercial premises have been established on designated sites on both sides of the new road near the village of Shrosha for local entrepreneurs. This step, thereby, supports the growth of the local economy.

The Rikoti highway represents a significant section of the East-West international highway corridor (E60) and one of the key infrastructural projects in Georgia’s transport network. The project was implemented with co-financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the World Bank (WB) and the Georgian state budget.

The total cost of design and construction works amounts to approximately 2.6 billion lari,” the Ministry of Infrastructure’s statement notes.