“We had estimated that the project would be completed with 20 trillion rials [$77.52 million] worth of investments but due to high inflation over the past months, we had to add a further 17 trillion rials [$65.89 million] to our initial calculations,” Mohammad Baqer Nobakht was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
“For the same reason [inflation], the 22-kilometer Section-2 project has to be completed as soon as possible.”
Nobakht noted that the government and Mostazafan Foundation each have a 50% share in the funds they bring to the Tehran-North Freeway Project.
Mostazafan Foundation, the largest charity and the second-largest socioeconomic conglomerate, is in charge of the project.
“Tunnels make up about 90% of the freeway’s Section-2. Iran’s longest tunnel, stretching over 6,400 meters is being built in this section, which will be fully constructed within a month,” he said.
With the inauguration of Section-2, the distance between the capital city Tehran and the north will be cut short by 5 kilometers.
The Tehran-North project consists of four sections spanning a total of 121 kilometers. The 32-kilometer Section-I was inaugurated by President Rouhani on Feb. 25, 2020.
This section came on stream around 23 years after the freeway’s construction was first launched in the fiscal 1996-97 and reduces travelling distance between Tehran and the city of Chalous (nearest city to the capital in the northern Mazandaran Province) for motorists by 60 kilometers. It is said to save up to 330,000 rials ($1.2) worth of gasoline on each one-way trip.
The freeway project has been referred to as one of the most protracted development projects in Iran, as numerous deadlines for completing its different sections had been missed.
Sections 2 and 3 pass through mountainous terrain, are not easily accessible and more difficult to construct.
The final stretch of the freeway project, Section-4, which is 20 kilometers long, was inaugurated in March 2014.
Once Section-2 is completed, Nobakht said, there will remain only 47 km for construction before this national mega project is finally completed.