Erbil's 120 Meter ring road to open to traffic in December

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The fourth and final section of Erbil's 120 Meter Road will be open by the end of this year, according to a project official, aiming to alleviate traffic in the Kurdistan Region's sprawling capital.

Totaling 11 kilometers, the fourth section stretches from the Erbil-Kirkuk Road to the Erbil-Mosul Road.

"The section we are now working on is the fourth and final part of the road and in December the main two sides of the road will be opened to drivers," Sartip Sabir, supervisor of the project, told Rudaw on Sunday, adding the remaining two service sides of the fourth part will be finished next year.

The fourth section contains three underpasses and three overpasses, he added.

The $440 million project has funded by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) via a long-term loan to Hemn Group, a domestic construction company.

With a 110 kilometer per hour speed limit and no traffic lights, drivers should, in theory, be able to encircle the city in about 20 minutes.

The infrastructural master plan for Erbil includes a series of concentric ring roads — 30 Meters, 40 Meters, 60 Meters, 100 Meters, 120 Meters, and 150 Meters - with the historic Erbil Citadel at the centre. The aim is for commuters in Erbil’s suburbs and surrounding towns to use the ring roads before entering smaller, more congested roads within the city.

120 Meter Road was added to Erbil's master plan in 2005. Turkish Ekinciler Construction Company started work on the first section of the road in 2010, but finished just 50 percent of the section before abandoning it. Hemn Group was then tasked with construction of the road in early 2013.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has repeatedly blamed the conflict with  Islamic State (ISIS), a global downturn in the oil prices, and budget disputes with Baghdad for delays in Region infrastructure projects.

Other setbacks to the project include a water main burst near the Baharka exit on May 17, causing cracks which required the road to be temporarily closed and traffic re-rerouted.

The 120 Meter Road project is finishing just as works on the 70-kilometer long 150 Meter Road has begun.