Bishkek's Northern Bypass May Become Tolled — Transport Ministry

The northern bypass road around Bishkek may become tolled. This became known at a meeting of the parliamentary deputy group "Ala-Too", where Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Baktyluu Mombekov delivered a report on the modernization of road infrastructure.

According to him, the issue of charging drivers is being considered as one of the tools for attracting private investment into the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of the road. The official cited as an example the 16-kilometre bypass road of the city of Uzgen, built at the expense of a private investor: the toll for passenger cars there is 200 som. Mombekov added that tolled passage on the Bypass and the amount of the tariffs are still at the stage of elaboration in the ministry.

Other road projects with investors are also being actively implemented around Bishkek. The construction of a four-lane Eastern bypass road 16.5 kilometres long from the village of Orto-Sai to Kirgshelk is estimated at almost 82 million dollars; the average toll on it, according to preliminary calculations by the operator "Tez Zhol", will be about 500 som. Earlier, the government approved a PPP project for the construction of a tolled Western bypass road, for which about 200 hectares of land are being allocated. In addition, tolled passages are planned around Osh and Nookat, a new overpass in the direction of Chon-Kurchak, as well as an alternative Bishkek — Belogorka — Suusamyr route, intended to shorten the journey to the south of the country by about 150 kilometres.