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18 BusinessReport 1/2011
INFRASTRUcTURE
Underwater artery
To ward off fatal congestion, Istanbul is building an
underground traffic network. The risk of earthquakes,
fast-moving currents, legal disputes, and archaeological
discoveries are all delaying the project – but in May a
decision will be made on a new tender process
by Özgür Uludag
The two Bosporus bridges were actually supposed
to resolve the problem but ultimately
only made it worse, because the people of Istanbul
have become far too used to driving into the
city by car – from Asia to Europe or vice versa. A
shortage of car parks, chronic congestion and considerable
environmental pollution all stem from that
huge volume of traffic. The first bridge was opened
in 1973 and the second in 1988. By the year 2014 a
project should be completed that will really change
things – and make the technical feats of the bridge
builders pale into insignificance. A tunnel system
known as the »Marmaray Project« has been a source
of admiration for months now but also the subject of
major debate.
The new traffic artery will run 76.3 kilometres parallel
to the coast of the Marmara Sea and cross
through it at the bottleneck in the city centre of Istanbul.
Between Üsküdar on the Asiatic side and Sirkeci
on the European side, a 1,300-metre-long tunnel has