Çamlıhemşin Tunnel to open August 17 in Rize

Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that a new 2-kilometer section of the Pazar-Ardeşen-Çamlıhemşin-Ayder road project will open to traffic on Monday, August 17. This new segment includes the 955-meter Çamlıhemşin Tunnel, as well as the Fırtına Dere and Hala Dere-1 bridges.

The project aims to improve access to the Ayder Plateau, a major tourism hub that hosts over one million visitors annually. By increasing road capacity and reducing travel times from approximately 55 minutes to 35 minutes, the development is expected to provide an annual total saving of 772 million lira, including 97 million lira in fuel costs.

With this opening, 10 kilometers of the total 36.5-kilometer project have been completed. Construction continues on the remaining 7-kilometer stretch, which includes the Hala and Hala-2 tunnels. The overall project features three tunnels totaling 3,670 meters and five bridges.