Ashgabat-Turkmenbashi highway will expand international transit and transport infrastructure
The works on ground excavation and road grading of the construction of a high-speed highway Ashgabat-Turkmenbashi are now in process. At the 24th kilometer of the Ashgabat-Dashoguz highway, the builders will erect a railway bridge and a road junction in the form of a cloverleaf (cloverleaf crossing), which will connect the “kilometer zero” of the highway with the existing road by the automobile bridges.
About 60 large and small bridges and over 70 underpasses will be built along the highway. In addition, 9 road junctions of a tubular configuration will be built along the route of the highway that will connect the high-speed road with the settlements: Geoktepe, the resort of Archman, the cities of Serdar, Bereket, Balkanabat, with villages Belek and Yangadzha.
Through the entrance to the Yangaja settlement (Balkan velayat) it will be possible to get from the highway to the sea port under construction, which will make it possible to improve the quality of logistics services. In the city of Turkmenbashi after the roundabout, which will be built near the airport, motorists will be able to get from the highway to the road leading to the city center.
Autobahn is the first project of a kind for Turkmenistan. The plan includes a three-lane highway with a width of 34.5 meters, the carriageways of which are separated from each other by a special dividing strip. There is a lane for emergency situations, which is adjoining directly to the main route in each direction of the traffic zone, a ditch and metal fences that will prevent the animals and people from leaving the lane.
A new highway with a roadbed of the first category assumes the use of high-quality asphalt concrete, geosynthetic, geogrids, geomesh and other materials to increase the strength of the structural layers of the road, which will in turn increase the bearing capacity of the multi-layer roadbed and road pavement.
The whole route will be equipped by the most stringent requirements of international standards. The tollgates (payment points for travel) will be placed at the entrance and exit from the highway. The motorists will have to pay for the pleasure of racing with a breeze from point A to point B - from Ashgabat to Turkmenbashi or back. We will pay for speed: the permissible speed on the autobahn is 130 km/h along the entire route.
Payment points are equipped with cash registers, which will accept payment in cash, via electronic cards or using automatic devices. Small payment points will be created at the entrances to the route from other settlements along the route. Several traffic police posts, equipped with surveillance cameras, maintenance points, road service will be built here.
There will be parking lots and rest areas for drivers and passengers at every 50 kilometers from each side of the road, which will be equipped with toilets and showers. It is decided to build recreation centers with shops, restaurants, hotels, closed and open car parks, gas stations and other objects on the 201st and 420th kilometers of the highway.
Advertising and information boards will be installed along the entire route, they will inform drivers about the weather, the condition of the roadway and the speed mode on the track. Telephone sets, which can be used to call the evacuator, traffic police, and road services, will be installed at every two kilometers.
The construction of the Ashgabat-Turkmenbashi highway will provide an opportunity to improve the quality of logistics services, expand the international transit and transport infrastructure, increase trade between neighboring countries, and increase the export and transit of goods, taking into account the capabilities of the Turkmenbashi International Sea Port.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport of Turkmenistan, the Ashgabat-Turkmenbashi highway will be commissioned in September 2020.
