A groundbreaking ceremony for the Gebze Orhangazi Izmir highway project, one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe was held in Gebze in the Marmara province of Kocaeli.

Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan PM of Republic of Turkey said that we are launching one of the biggest projects in the history of our republic.

The highway project includes the construction of the Gulf Bridge, a bridge in the Izmit Gulf and is considered one of the largest projects of its kind not only in Turkey but in all of Europe.

The travel time from Istanbul to Izmir will be reduced from an average eight hours to less than 4 hours after the completion of the bridge. At the same time, thanks to the bridge the new project will also shave 140 kilometers off of the distance creating other important savings.

The total cost for the highway’s construction including the bridge is estimated at TRL 11 billion. The new highway should be completed by 2017.

(Sourced from Hurriyet Daily News)