When this project is finished travel will be so much better. Sadly no finish date yet:

The Highways General Directorate and the Privatization Administration (ÖİB) have begun work on the İzmir-İstanbul toll road project, which aims to reduce travel time between the two cities and whose construction is set to begin in 2008, according to Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım.

Highways General Directorate Region II Manager Erol Altun said in an interview with the Anatolia news agency that a toll road between İzmir and İstanbul would be constructed under the Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) method and that they were preparing a preliminary project with the Privatization Administration. Under the BOT model, a private company completes a project, operates it for a specified amount of time and then transfers it to the government. He said the tender for the project will be launched in 2008 after preliminary studies have been completed. Altun said the road will reduce the distance between İzmir and İstanbul to 440 kilometers and travel duration to three-and-a-half hours. He said the estimated cost of the projects was approximately $5-6 billion and that the road is planned to be completed four years after the tender is finalized.

20.11.2007

Today’s Zaman İzmir