Eurasia Tunnel opens partially to service on Dec 22

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

The Eurasia Tunnel, the first ever road tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, opened partially to service early Dec. 22. 

The passages between the Kazlıçeşme district on the European side and the Göztepe district on the Asian side have one lane on each side due to security reasons, according to officials. 

The tunnel will be open between 7.00 a.m. and 9 p.m. until the end of January 2017, when it will remain open 24/7, according to officials. 

The toll fee is set to 15 Turkish Liras ($4.2) until the beginning of 2017. 

“The toll fees which will be collected until this date will be offered to martyrs’ families,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a speech at the official opening ceremony on Dec. 20. 

Erdoğan noted that the project would make a contribution of around 150-180 million liras to the Treasury annually for a 24-year term. 

The total distance of the tunnel will be 5.4 kilometers, 3.34 kilometers of which will be under the sea.

Together with access roads, the Eurasia Tunnel Project’s total distance will be 14.6 kilometers. At its deepest point, the tunnel will be 106.4 meters below the surface of the Bosphorus Strait.