Kazakhstan to build 4,700 km of new national highways

Last year a record high 12,000 km of roads were built, reconstructed and repaired in Kazakhstan, Kazinform News Agency cites the Kazakh Transport Ministry.

Over 25,000 workers and 10,000 units of special machinery were deployed in the reconstruction and reconditioning of republican highways. 7,000 km have been repaired so far, including sections on the Karaganda-Almaty, Taldykorgan-Ust Kamenogorsk, Aktobe-Kandyagash, and Atyrau-Astrakhan roads. The development of projects cut travel time, increased highway capacities, and improved transportation between the regions.

Besides, local authorities commissioned over 3,600 km of roads. Most of the roads were built in Kostanay, North Kazakhstan, East Kazakhstan, Aktobe and Pavlodar regions.

Over 200 Kazakhstani companies were engaged in road building, it said in a statement.

Notably, roads to popular tourist destinations, including Balkhash, Alakol, Bokei-Orda, Bayanaul National Park and others were put into service last year.

In addition, 1,100 km of railways were commissioned throughout Kazakhstan. 2,700 jobs were created, and over 1,400 special machines are involved in railway construction projects.

According to the Ministry’s press service, 31,00 new workplaces will be generated this year as part of the road construction projects.

As earlier reported, Kazakhstan and South Korea discussed the bilateral cooperation in transport infrastructure and implementation of a number of transport routes development projects. The Korean side expressed interest in implementation of road construction projects in Kazakhstan. It should be reminded that South Korean companies Dongsung Engineering and ISAN Corporation are monitoring the quality of Almaty-Astana highway construction.