Turkish government decides on broad expropriation for giant road project

ANKARA

DHA photo

The Turkish government has decided on the urgent expropriation of some 30 villages and neighborhoods in two Turkish provinces in the northwestern Marmara region as part of the ongoing road project to construct a new route connecting Istanbul and the Aegean city of İzmir. 

The plan also includes a giant suspension bridge to bypass İzmit Bay. 

This is one of the largest expropriation projects in recent years, daily Hürriyet highlighted.

The decision on hundreds of properties in Bursa, an industrial center, and neighboring Balıkesir was published on the Official Gazette on Dec. 8. 

The road project is expected to cut the nine-hour Istanbul-İzmir route to three hours and 30 minutes, according to officials. 

A bridge deck that is 2,600 tons in weight, 124 meters long and 36 meters wide was mounted on the İzmit Bay Bridge last summer. The two towers of the bridge have also been installed. 

The highway is expected to be completed in 2017.