Further new highway works are planned for Kazakhstan – image courtesy © Steve Allen, Dreamstime.com
The road network in Kazakhstan was improved and extended in 2020 and plans are in hand for further upgrades during 2021. There were 350 major road works carried out in the country during 2020 at a total cost of US$565 million.
Repairs were carried out to 3,221km of local roads, while 541km of highways were improved, 199km of highways were totally upgraded and a further 39km of new highways were added to the country’s network. Around 75% of local roads are now in good condition in Kazakhstan, compared to 71% in 2019.
Meanwhile, the economies of Kazakhstan and the neighbouring Kyrgz Republic will be boosted by the development of a planned highway connecting the two nations. The new highway will link Kazakhstan’s capital Almaty with the Kyrgz Republic. Alignment options are still being considered for the project, with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reviewing the various solutions. The different routes will be of varying lengths, although the shorter options will require the construction of tunnel sections of 14.6km, 16km or 12km that will increase costs as well as the complexity of the work.
