TEHRAN – Iranian Deputy Transport and Urban Development Minister Kheirollah Khademi has said 440 kilometers (km) of freeways and 1,200 km of highways will be added to the country’s road network by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 2022).

Khademi noted that the ministry prioritized the completion of nine major freeway projects which would have the biggest impact on the country’s transportation and transit operations over the past two years and these projects have had average progress of more than 70 percent so far.

“Two of the mentioned projects were put into operation in the previous year and 221 kilometers of freeways were completed across the country,” he told IRIB.

Khademi, who is also the managing director of Iran’s Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC), stressed that the completion of 221 km of freeways in the previous year was achieved despite the fact that the annual freeway construction in the country has been 80 km.

As for the country’s highways development, the official said the completion of 2,000 km of highways has also been put on the agenda, of which last year 170 km was completed.

“Most of the highways that are going to be inaugurated this year are part of the East-West and North-South corridors, which will be a big step towards the development of freight, transit, and passenger transportation in the country,” he noted.

EF/MA