S-5 (Georgia)
საერთაშორისო 5 (Georgian) | |
Tbilisi-Bakurtsikhe-Lagodekhi | |
Route information | |
Length | 160 km[1] (99 mi) |
Existed | 1996–present |
Major junctions | |
West end | Tbilisi |
| |
East end | Azerbaijan border (Lagodekhi) |
Location | |
Georgia | |
Municipalities | Tbilisi, Gardabani, Sagarejo, Gurjaani, Sighnaghi, Lagodekhi |
Highway system | |
|
The S-5 route (Georgian: საერთაშორისო მნიშვნელობის გზა ს-5, Saertashoriso mnishvnelobis gza S-5, road of international importance), officially known as Tbilisi-Bakurtsikhe-Lagodekhi (border of the Republic of Azerbaijan) and informally known as the Kakheti Highway, is a 160 kilometers (99 mi) long "road of international importance" within the Georgian road network.[1] The highway runs from Tbilisi via Sagarejo and Bakurtsikhe to the border with Azerbaijan near Lagodekhi.
The road is nicknamed "Kakheti Highway" in reference to its main location, the Kakheti region. The majority of the road is a two-lane highway, while a section has been upgraded to a motorway. After the Georgian-Azerbaijan border the highway continues as M5 to Zagatala and Yevlakh.
Route description
The reference point for the mileage of roads leaving Tbilisi, such as the S-5 highway, is Freedom Square according to the Georgian "Law on motor roads".[2] But that does not mean Freedom Square is the actual starting point of the highway. In the case of the S-5 the actual starting point is George W. Bush Street, East of the city centre and about 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) from Freedom Square.
The segment in the capital region until the S9 Tbilisi Bypass intersection, has been built as a six-lane city express road. The subsequent section until beyond Sagarejo is a 2x2 lane motorway, while the remainder is a two-lane highway. In the latter part, the main speed limit is 90 km/h (56 mph), with the exception of passage through towns and villages (60 km/h (37 mph), may vary locally) and within the Tbilisi city. The motorway section between the S-9 Tbilisi Bypass and Sagarejo is 110 km/h (68 mph). The highway doesn't have major differences in altitude: it hovers around 450–600 m (1,480–1,970 ft) above sea level. Its lowest point is 200 m (660 ft) asl in the Alazani Valley and its maximum altitude is 840 m (2,760 ft) asl near Sagarejo.
Tbilisi - Sagarejo
The Kakheti Highway starts in George W Bush Street the "Kakheti Highway" as a 2x3 lane city express road, with parallel lanes, until the airport exit, just before the Tbilisi Lilo area. In 2020 the section until the Tbilisi Airport has been completely renovated.[3] Through Lilo the road is a 2x2 lane city road. From this point a new 35 kilometers (22 mi) 2x2 motorway section to Sagarejo was opened in October 2024.
Heading East the S5 highway runs through the dry East Georgian lands alongside the "Kakheti railway". The Tbilisi - Gurjaani - Telavi railway line, which opened in 1915, follows more or less the same route and crosses the S-5 a couple of times (grade separated). Sagarejo is the regional centre of this part of Kakheti, and it offers the northern access road to the historic David Gareja monastery complex on the border with Azerbaijan.
Sagarejo - Tsnori
East of Sagarejo, near Tokhliauri, the motorway sections joins the old S-5 again. The highway skirts along the foot of the Gombori mountain range, a range which extends in southeasterly direction from the Caucasus range and separates the Iori and Alazani river valleys. Just before passing over the Gombori Range in its southern tip the state highway Sh40 splits from the S-5, which leads to Signagi, a touristic town situated on top of the ridge providing views over the Alazani Valley. The S-5 meanwhile passes over the lower part of the range at a modest 770 m (2,530 ft) and enters the Alazani Valley at Bakurtsikhe. Here, the S-5 turns right running parallel to the Alazani and the foot of the Gombori Range. To the right Bakurtsikhe runs the main thoroughfare of the northwestern side of the Alazani valley, the Sh42 state route to Gurjaani, Telavi and Akhmeta.
Due to the intensive wine production in this region, the western side of the Alazani Valley is densely populated with a string of villages and towns crammed next to each other along the Sh42 and S-5. Since the summer of 2021 a new bypass was opened between Bakurtsikhe and Gurjaani to improve traffic flow while reducing traffic through the villages. The S-5 between Bakurtsikhe and Tsnori got a similar bypass around the string of villages, which opened in August 2024.
Tsnori - Lagodekhi
From Tsnori the S-5 highway goes northeast across the fertile and green Alazani river valley. The Alazani is the main river in Kakheti and provides the water for the intensive grape and fruit farming in the region. Across the valley the highway passes through a string of villages. At Ninigori the S-5 junctions with the regional thoroughfare along the Northeastern side of the valley, the Sh43, which leads to Akhmeta via Kvareli. At the foot of the Caucasus Range, Lagodekhi is the main town near the border with Azerbaijan. Beyond the border via a narrow bridge across the Matsimis Tskali River the road continues as M-5 through the Zaqatala region, a formerly contested area between the two countries.
History
From the early 1980s to 1996 the current S-5 route was referred to as A302 within the Soviet road network, until the junction west of Lagodekhi. Beyond this point the road was part of the A315 to Zagatala in the Azerbaijan SSR. Prior to the 1980s the route of today's S-5 was unnumbered as was the case with most Soviet roads.[4]
In 1996 the current Georgian classification system was adopted and the S-category "roads of international importance" was introduced as its highest class. The "S-5 Tbilisi-Bakurtsikhe-Lagodekhi (Azerbaijan border)" replaced the A302 designation with an additional section from Lagodekhi to the Azerbaijan border that replaced the A315 designation in its Georgian section.[5]
Upgrade to motorway
From 2021, the gradual upgrade of the S-5 highway to 2x2 lane motorway between the S-9 Tbilisi Bypass and Bakurtsikhe was implemented, via a newly designed route. The first phase was a 35 kilometers (22 mi) section between the Tbilisi Bypass and Tokhliauri, east of Sagarejo,[6] which was completed in October 2024.[7] The project was divided in three lots and was financed by the state. Chinese and Turkish companies built the eastern two lots with a total length of 31 kilometers (19 mi), while a Georgian company was responsible for the remainder, the Vaziani bypass which opened in December 2023.[8] As result of the upgrade and redesign, this section bypasses villages and towns.
The second phase was the next segment eastward, 17 kilometers (11 mi) from Tokhliauri to Badiauri, for which the World Bank committed to financing.[9] The segment was due for delivery in 2025.[10] The construction of the third and final segment of the upgrade, between Badiauri and Bakurtsikhe, was announced to start in 2025.
Further eastbound, from Bakurtsikhe in the Alazani valley, the S-5 was not scheduled to be upgraded to motorway, but instead would get bypasses around local communities. A 17 kilometers (11 mi) km bypass between Bakurtsikhe and Tsnori was constructed to improve traffic flow in this crowded part of the Alazani valley.[11][12] Similarly, a bypass around Lagodekhi was scheduled for construction beginning in 2025.[10]
Other projects indirectly related to the S-5 to improve the infrastructure in the Alazani valley, included the Gurjaani Bypass branching of from the S-5 at Bakurtsikhe, which opened in 2021.[13] This bypass was scheduled to be extended to the Kakhetian capital Telavi.[10]
Upgrades S-5 highway | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lot | Section | Length | Funding | Contractor | Start construction | Opened | Remarks |
3 | Tbilisi Bypass - Vaziani | 4.0 km | $150m State budget[14] | New Road Ltd (GE)[15] | April 2022[16][17] | 8 December 2023[8] | |
1 | Vaziani - Sagarejo[18] | 23.8 km | China Road and Bridge Corporation (CN)[15] | 3 October 2024[7] | |||
2 | Sagarejo[18] | 7.7 km | Göçay İnşaat Taahhüt ve Ticaret (TK)[15] | ||||
4 | Sagarejo - Badiauri | 17.0 km | €97.7m World Bank | Göçay İnşaat Taahhüt ve Ticaret (TK)[19] | |||
5 | Badiauri - Bakurtsikhe | 17.0 km | |||||
Bakurtsikhe - Tsnori | 16.6 km | $30m Asian Development Bank[20] | China Road and Bridge Corporation (CN)[21] | Q1 2022[22] | 1 August 2024[11] | Budget part of Batumi Bypass project credit[22] | |
Lagodekhi Bypass | |||||||
1.000 km = 0.621 mi
|
Intersections
Region | Municipality | km | mi | Destinations | Route | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
City of Tbilisi | 4 | 2.5 | "Kakheti Highway" (S-5) begins at George W. Bush Street | ||||
7 | 4.3 | Moscow Ave / Javakheti Str | |||||
9 | 5.6 | Varketili / Tbilisi Sea | |||||
11 | 6.8 | Chantladze Street | |||||
13 | 8.1 | Tbilisi Airport | |||||
18 | 11 | Tbilisi city limits | |||||
Crosses Lochini River (180m, region boundary)) | |||||||
Kvemo Kartli | Gardabani | 19 | 12 | Batumi / Poti Tsiteli Khidi (Red Bridge) / Rustavi | "Tbilisi Bypass" | ||
20 | 12 | Vaziani | Eastbound exit only | ||||
23 | 14 | Vaziani / Gombori | |||||
34 | 21 | Sartichala | |||||
38 | 24 | Crosses Iori River (150 m, region boundary) | |||||
Kakheti | Sagarejo | 48 | 30 | Sagarejo | |||
52 | 32 | Sagarejo / David Gareji | |||||
54 | 34 | ||||||
Continues East as two lane highway. | |||||||
63 | 39 | Crosses Chailuri River (115 m) | |||||
Gurjaani | 94 | 58 | Signagi Melaani | | |||
103 | 64 | Gurjaani / Telavi / Lagodekhi | |||||
105 | 65 | Telavi | Via Gurjaani Bypass | ||||
Signagi | 116 | 72 | Vakiri | ||||
121 | 75 | ||||||
Tsnori / Dedoplistskaro | |||||||
131 | 81 | Crosses Alazani River (115 m, municipality boundary) | |||||
Lagodekhi | 151 | 94 | Akhmeta | ||||
156 | 97 | Crosses Shromiskhevi River (75 m) | |||||
158 | 98 | Crosses Lagodekhiskhevi River (115 m) | |||||
161 | 100 | ||||||
Crosses Matsimis Tskali River (100 m, Georgia - Azerbaijan border) | |||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
References
- ^ a b "2014 List of highways of international and domestic importance" (in Georgian). The Legislative Herald of Georgia. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ "Law "About motor roads", consolidated version of 15 July 2020" (in Georgian). The Legislative Herald of Georgia. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ "Rehabilitation of George Bush Street, Kakheti Highway and the patterns adjacent to the Monument – "The Man and The Sun" has been completed". Tbilisi City Hall. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ "Road numbering systems - Russia". Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ "On Approval of Indicators and List for Determination of International, Domestic and Local Roads of Georgia (1996)" (in Georgian). The Legislative Herald of Georgia. 16 December 1996. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
- ^ "Agreements have been signed for the construction of the Tbilisi-Sagarejo road" (in Georgian). Roads Department of Georgia. 14 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Infrastructure Minister: new 35-km section of Kakheti Highway in east to reduce travel time by 50% province". Agenda.ge. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ a b "First section of Kakheti Highway opens, project to be completed in 2024". Agenda.ge. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ "Kakheti Integrated Mobility Project". Wereldbank. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ a b c "2.10.1 Road Infrastructure". სამთავრობო პროგრამა 2025–2028 [Government Program 2025–2028] (PDF) (in Georgian). Government of Georgia. November 2024. p. 37. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
- ^ a b "Infrastructure Minister: opening of Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road "important" for development of Georgia's transport corridor". Agenda.ge. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Construction of Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori bypass road begins". Roads Department of Georgia. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ "Gurjaani bypass road opens in Kakheti, PM announces construction of 2 bln GEL worth of new roads". Agenda.ge. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ "Road that Cuts Travel Time to Kakheti in Half- Agreements Signed with Chinese and Turkish Companies". Caucasus Business Week. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ^ a b c "Tbilisi-Sagarejo new road" (in Georgian). Roads Department of Georgia. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ "Georgian Premier says Kakheti Expressway will shorten travel time". Georgia Online. 16 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "Construction of Kakheti highway has started" (in Georgian). Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure. 16 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ a b "On granting the right of expropriation to the Department of Roads of Georgia, a state sub-agency under the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia for essential public needs" (in Georgian). The Legislative Herald of Georgia. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "A contract was signed for the construction of the 17 km section of Sagarejo-Badiauri" (in Georgian). Roads Department of Georgia. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
- ^ 87.8 million Georgian Lari from the Batumi Bypass project credit
- ^ "Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori bypass road" (in Georgian). Roads Department of Georgia. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Georgia: Batumi Bypass Road Project - Project Sheet". Asian Development Bank. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
External links
Media related to S-5 (Georgia) at Wikimedia Commons