Uzbekistan Starts Construction of Tashkent-Samarkand Highway

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the construction of a new toll alternative highway between Tashkent and Samarkand in the Urta Chirchik district of Tashkent region.

The president noted that Uzbekistan’s economy has tripled in recent years, while the country has set a target of increasing its size to US$240 billion by 2030.

Currently, 4,000 km of international transit routes pass through Uzbekistan. At the same time, around 30% of international highways are already operating at full capacity, while another 25% are carrying loads above their designed capacity.

According to the president, after the launch of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and the Trans-Afghan railway, Uzbekistan will become a key link in the shortest land transport corridor between the Pacific Ocean and Europe. The country will also gain access to Pakistani ports and South Asian markets with a population of around 2 billion people.

According to estimates, attracting an additional 15–20 million tonnes of international transit cargo annually will allow Uzbekistan to generate US$400–600 million in revenue, attract around US$3 billion in investment for the construction of logistics centres and terminals, and create at least 50,000 permanent jobs.

The president called the construction of the new Tashkent-Samarkand highway another historic stage in the development of the country’s transport infrastructure.

Over the past 10 years, 78 trillion soums have been allocated for road construction and repair, allowing the renewal of a total of 128,000 km of road networks.

The new project is valued at around US$2.2 billion. The six-lane modern highway, with a total length of 282 km, will include the construction of 92 bridges, 28 overpasses and 60 underground pedestrian crossings.

The road will have a monolithic concrete surface designed for intensive heavy transport traffic and high speeds. On flat sections, vehicles will be allowed to travel at speeds of up to 150 km/h. The project also includes the introduction of modern safety systems and digital traffic management technologies.

After the highway is commissioned, travel time between Tashkent and Samarkand is expected to decrease from five hours to 2.5 hours. The road’s capacity will range from 60,000 to 80,000 vehicles per day, while freight transportation costs are expected to decline by 20–24%.

The head of state said the new highway would stimulate economic development in the regions. According to the World Bank’s assessment, every dollar invested in such infrastructure projects can generate an economic effect of up to five dollars.

The project is expected to increase the gross regional product of Tashkent, Syrdarya, Jizzakh and Samarkand regions by around 3%. More than 2 million residents of 13 districts along the highway route will gain new employment and income growth opportunities.

Logistics centres, warehouse complexes, industrial and agro-industrial enterprises, trade facilities, service centres, hotels and tourism infrastructure are planned along the highway. Local construction materials and services from domestic companies will be widely used during the project implementation.

The president also said that construction of the Khiva-Urgench road has already begun, an international tender for the Tashkent-Andijan highway project is nearing completion, and the design of a road connecting Tashkent with Bostanlyk is also close to completion.

“Today, on the eve of the 35th anniversary of our Motherland’s independence, we are laying another solid foundation for the country’s future, its economic stability and the well-being of our people,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said before placing a commemorative capsule and officially launching construction of the new highway.