12 Sep /13

There’s Nothing Funny About Eurasian Transportation

eurasia tunnelSince the time of the Roman Empire, the Bosphorus Strait, which separates the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, has been considered the meeting point of East and West, Orient and Occident. For millennia, the waterway has been a crucial trading route on the Silk Road and the bridge between neighboring, often competing empires. Though Istanbul, the city that spans both banks of the Bosphorus Strait, has been populated since at least the 7th century BC and experienced virtually every conceivable challenge a city can face over the course of centuries, it is now dealing with a problem threatening to literally bring the tightly populated metropolis to a halt: traffic.

While it has grown to be a city of approximately 14 million people, Istanbul remains a city divided into European and Asian neighborhoods. To connect these two sections of the city, two bridges spanning the Bosphorus have been previously built. As could be expected, this measure improved transportation for a while. However, considering that the latter of the 2 bridges was finished in 1988, the city is in bad need of alternate means to redirect its ever-increasing traffic across the Bosphorus- or below. Instead of building another bridge, Turkish authorities and city planners have decided that the solution to Istanbul’s traffic problem is not another bridge, but the Eurasia Tunnel- an almost 15 km route connecting the two banks of the Bosphorus Strait that includes a 5.4-km twin-deck tunnel and will allow commuters and visitors to cross between Europe and Asia beneath the seabed in less than 15 minutes.

What Exactly Does This Mean?

  • The commute from the Asian side to the European side will be reduced to less than a fourth.
  • Turkey’s Asian and European highway networks will be better connected, thus influencing trade not only within Turkey, but all land-based trade between Europe and Asia.
  • Along with the strategic positioning of airport and rail assets, the Eurasia Tunnel Project will allow Turkey to synergistically maximize its capacity and reputation as a local/international transportation hub.

Impact on Business

While the $1.4 billion project is primarily intended to ease local traffic congestion, there are several notable benefits to the city’s economic infrastructure and real estate development that will especially benefit Kazlicesme and Goztepe. Second, as this tunnel alleviates congestion on pre-tunnel modes of transportation, such as ferries and bridges, it will allow for quicker movement between neighborhoods and increase the city’s appeal for foreign visitors. Finally, considering the current air and expanding rail assets as well as the linking of highway networks, goods will move quicker and more effectively across the country.

All things considered, the Eurasian Tunnel has the potential to create sustainable growth for Istanbul, for Turkey, and potentially for Europe and Asia as well.

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