Iranian minister says new bridge over Astarachay reduces truck queues

Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash said that the new bridge over Astarachay has reduced the number of trucks queuing, Azernews reports.

As a result of the commissioning of the new bridge between Iran and Azerbaijan over Astarachay, the number of trucks queuing in the Iranian city of Astara has been reduced by one third.

With the completion of ongoing construction works around this bridge and full utilisation of the transit road, there will be no more queues of trucks in the Iranian city of Astara, Bazrpash said

Bezrpash added that an online queue system is being implemented in Iran's Astara city to eliminate queues from trucks.

It should be noted that the bridge between Iran and Azerbaijan over Astarachay was used during World War II. Since the bridge was old, 300-350 trucks could pass over it in a day. However, in the Iranian city of Astara, in some cases, up to 700 trucks queued up to cross the border.

It should be added that a new road bridge between Azerbaijan and Iran over Astarachay was put into operation on December 30, 2023. It is reported that 5.8 million euros were spent on the construction of the new bridge. Currently, due to the construction of necessary buildings around the bridge, this bridge is not used to the maximum extent.

The foundation of the new bridge between Azerbaijan and Iran over Astarachay was laid on January 25, 2022. The bridge will be three-span, 97.5 metres long, and 30.5 metres wide. The bridge with 4 lanes is planned to have 2 more lanes for backup traffic, as well as 2 pedestrian crossings with a width of 2.5 metres each.