17.10.2026 10:52
The 52-kilometer Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi Highway, which will ease transportation in Mersin, will open to traffic as of 00:01 on Monday. Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that the journey, which extends up to 2.5 hours especially in the summer months, will drop to 18 minutes with the new highway. The project is expected to save 3 billion 20 million lira annually.
The General Directorate of Highways' announcement regarding the opening to traffic of the Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section of the Çeşmeli-Erdemli-Silifke-Taşucu Highway was published in the Official Gazette.
In his written statement, Minister Uraloğlu reported that construction work on the 52-kilometer Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section of the Çeşmeli-Erdemli-Silifke-Taşucu Highway, which will strengthen the transportation infrastructure between Mersin's tourism, agriculture, industry and logistics centers, has been completed, and said, "We will open our highway to traffic at 00:01 on the night connecting October 18 to October 19."
Pointing out that an official opening ceremony will also be held after the Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi Highway is opened to traffic, Uraloğlu noted that they will hold the official opening of the project on later dates with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
"2.5-HOUR JOURNEY TO DROP TO 18 MINUTES" Sharing the information that the Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section is 52 kilometers long, comprising 41 kilometers of highway and 11 kilometers of connecting road, Uraloğlu continued as follows:
"Within the scope of our project, we built 10 grade-separated interchanges, 7 tunnels and 5 viaducts. In addition, we strengthened our transportation infrastructure with 2 highway service facilities, 6 toll collection areas, a maintenance operation center and a tunnel operation center. The Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section will significantly reduce the traffic load, especially intensified during the summer months. We will transfer a significant portion of the transit traffic on the existing state road to the highway. Thus, we will reduce travel time, which can reach 2.5 hours in the summer months, to 18 minutes. With our project, we will save 3 billion 20 million lira, including 2.68 billion lira from time and 340 million lira from fuel, and we will reduce carbon emissions by 17 thousand tons per year."
Pointing out that the highway will ease transportation in the coastal areas of Mersin, one of the Mediterranean Region's important tourism centers, Uraloğlu stated that the project, by connecting Mersin's tourism areas to the existing highway network and providing uninterrupted and high-standard transportation, will allow transit traffic on the D400 Antalya-Mersin and D715 Konya-Mersin state roads to reach the highway network without entering city centers.
Uraloğlu emphasized that the highway will facilitate access to Çukurova International Airport and contribute to the development of tourism, industry and agricultural production in the region.
THE DEVELOPMENT ROAD'S HIGHWAY CONNECTIONS WILL BE STRENGTHENED Noting that the project also carries strategic importance for international transportation corridors, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Uraloğlu stated the following:
"The Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi Highway will provide important infrastructure support to the road leg of the Development Road by strengthening the connections between Mersin's ports, production centers and the existing highway network. With our project, which is a continuation of the Tarsus-Adana-Gaziantep Highway that is open to traffic, we will also strengthen the uninterrupted highway connection on the Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep-Şanlıurfa axis."