Armenia to Reduce Travel Time to Iran Border by Nearly 3 Hours

Armenia plans to reduce the travel time to the Iranian border by nearly 3 hours. This will be possible after the completion of road and tunnel constructions in the Syunik region within the framework of the "North-South" project.

During a roundtable dedicated to the results of the 'Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Armenia' logistics route, Karen Badalyan, the deputy director of the Road Department, informed Sputnik Armenia that the fourth part of the "North-South" project is being implemented in Syunik and is divided into three lots.

A total of 32 kilometers of road section is planned to be constructed from the Iran border (Agarak) to Kajaran. The project includes the construction of 5 interchanges, 2 new tunnels, and 15 new bridges. Construction of this section is expected to be completed by 2027.

The second lot involves the 7.2 km long new Kajaran tunnel and the accompanying 4 km of road, which will alleviate the congestion on the Meghri pass (located at an altitude of 2535 m above sea level), significantly improving road safety and avoiding existing difficulties related to transit.

"The length of the currently used winding road will be reduced by 14 km, while the average speed of vehicles will increase from 50 km/h to 80 km/h. The time spent on the road will be reduced by 40 minutes," explained Badalyan.

Within the framework of the third lot, there are plans to construct a 60 km highway from Kajaran to Sisian that includes the Bargushat tunnel (8.6 km long), 27 bridges with a total length of 4.7 km, and 9 tunnels (12.5 km). Following the completion of the project, the Sisian-Kajaran section will be reduced by 54 km, and the average speed will increase from 50 km/h to 100 km/h. As a result, the travel time on this section will be reduced by 1.5 to 2 hours.

Construction of this section is set to begin in 2026 and is expected to be completed within six years.