When the Republic of Turkey was declared in 1923, the total road length was 18,350 km, including 13,900 km of macadam road and 4,450 km of dirt road, with 94 bridges within our national borders. In the first years of the Republic, railway construction, which was the most advanced technology of the period, gained significance. However, it became apparent that the railway alone was insufficient, and the construction of highways needed to be expedited to meet the country's transportation goals. As a result, in 1929, the Directorate of Macadam and Bridges was established within the Ministry of Public Works (Nafia Ministry). Subsequently, highway construction projects were accelerated in alignment with National Highway Policies. As a consequence of the construction efforts between 1923 and 1947, the road network reached a total of 43,743 km. In 1948, a breakthrough was achieved in the field of construction techniques, as the era of manual labor involving digging, shovels, and human power was replaced by industrial machines. After taking stock of existing routes, a road network that would fulfill Turkey's transportation needs was specified and determined. In March 1950, the General Directorate of Highways (KGM) was established with the vision that all these endeavors should be directed and managed by a dynamic organization within a well-defined plan and program framework, utilizing modern and technical methods. The General Directorate of Highways (KGM) aimed to reach every corner of the country in its early years. Between 1950 and 1960, the primary focus of the efforts was to ensure year-round road accessibility for essential public services such as healthcare and education. During this period, a gradual construction system was adopted to enhance roads based on traffic density, and main routes were developed around cities. Thanks to dynamic institutional principles and mechanized work, the road network expanded to 60,000 km by the 1960s.
Between 1960 and 1970, due to increasing traffic volume and the demands for more comfortable roads, asphalt pavement became the important part of road construction. With the development of the motor vehicle industry in the 1970s, the requirement of high-standard multi-lane expressways and motorways, especially in high volume traffic roads and large cities, came to the fore. KGM realized its first implementations with the project of the Bosphorus Bridge, İstanbul Ring Road and İstanbul-İzmit Expressway. Known as the Strait of Istanbul, 15 July Martyrs Bridge (Bosphorus Bridge) connected the continents of Asia and Europe for the first time in 1973.
In the 1980s, the General Directorate of Highways initiated a new era aimed at constructing high-standard motorways and highways to improve accessibility. During these years, KGM implemented projects like Gebze-Izmit, Tarsus-Pozantı, and Kapıkule-Edirne Motorways to offer faster and more comfortable journeys. The construction of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, connecting the two continents once again, was also completed during this period.
Throughout the 1990s, KGM continued to develop high-standard motorways and enhance the quality of the road network. Through a planned and intensive work program, the total highway length increased from 241 km in 1990 to 1,674 km in 2000 and 1,714 km in 2002.
Starting in 2003, Türkiye's road transport priorities were defined based on national and international network integrity and traffic safety through an Emergency Action Plan. KGM accelerated the construction of divided highways and introduced numerous projects across the country. Between 2003 and 2011, a divided road network of 15,000 kilometers was completed and put into service across the country, including projects like the Black Sea Coastal Road, Bolu Tunnel, Ankara-Izmir Divided Road, Ankara-Samsun Divided Road, Gaziantep-Sanliurfa Highway, Erzurum-Ağrı-Gürbulak Border Gate Divided Road, Bozüyük-Mekece-Adapazarı Divided Road, Diyarbakır-Mardin Divided Road.
In the years following 2010, in order to meet the increasing demand of transport quality, large-scale projects were started to be built with alternative financial resources in addition to the public resources. As part of these endeavors, the Public-Private Partnership model known as Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) was implemented. Several projects were initiated under this model, leading to significant improvements in Türkiye's road infrastructure. Projects like the Istanbul-Izmir Highway were completed in its entirety in 2019, the Menemen-Aliağa-Çandarlı Highway and Ankara-Niğde Highway were finished in 2020 and with the exception of the 45 km Başakşehir-Bahçeşehir-Hadımköy section, the North Marmara Highway was completed in 2021. The significant milestone came in 2022 when the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge and the Malkara-Çanakkale Highway were inaugurated, further expanding the transportation network and providing an uninterrupted transport in Çanakkale for the first time in history.
KGM, investing greatly in a high standard of road network, implemented many other important projects throughout the country in recent years. Projects like the Amasya Peripheral Road, Kahramanmaraş-Göksun Highway, Konya Peripheral Road, Bursa and Aydın Peripheral Motorways, Ovit Tunnel, Tohma Bridge, Kömürhan Bridge, Hasankeyf-2 Bridge, Yenikent-Temelli Highway, Zarova Bridge, Pirinkayalar Tunnel, Zonguldak-Kilimli Highway, Zonguldak-Ereğli Highway, Malatya Peripheral Road, Phaselis Tunnel, the Ayvacık – Küçükkuyu Road with Assos and Troya Tunnels, the Yusufeli Roads consisting of 56 kilometers of tunnels, the Bitlis Çayı Viaduct, the world's first bridge with a holding and pushing steel orthotropic box section, the Zigana Tunnel, the longest dual-tube road tunnel in Türkiye and Europe, the Eğiste Hadimi Viaduct, an engineering marvel, and many others have raised Türkiye's road infrastructure to the level of developed countries.
The General Directorate of Highways, with deep respect for historical heritage, rehabilitated and restored many historical bridges in accordance with their original forms. Having completed the restoration works of 26 historical bridges in 2022, KGM has contributed to our cultural heritage by restoring 436 historical bridges since 2003.
Currently, KGM is managing and constructing new major projects that will provide uninterrupted journeys and contribute to the economic and social prosperity of various regions. These projects include the Başakşehir-Bahçeşehir-Hadımköy section of the Northern Marmara Highway, Aydın-Denizli Motorway, Çeşmeli-Kızkalesi section of the Mersin (Çeşmeli)-Erdemli-Silifke-Taşucu Motorway, and the Mediterranean Coastal Road, which are being implemented in different parts of Türkiye.
The General Directorate of Highways, under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, currently has a total length of 68,629 kilometers of road network, including 30,250 kilometers of hot mix asphalt pavement, 36,135 kilometers of surface treatment, and 2,244 kilometers of other roads. Within this road network, 3,633 kilometers are motorways, and the total length of divided roads is 29,083 kilometers (42 percent).
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