Kalbajar: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva inspected the progress of construction on the Toganali-Kalbajar-Istisu highway. The head of state conducted the technical opening of the Murovdag tunnel, located at the 13.5-kilometer mark of the road, which stretches 11.7 kilometers in length.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, Saleh Mammadov, Chairman of the Board of the State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads, briefed the President and the First Lady on the completed and ongoing work. The couple attended the groundbreaking ceremony of this road in August 2021. The 82-kilometer-long highway is a significant infrastructure project for the Karabakh and East Zangazur economic regions. It includes a 56-kilometer section from Toganali to Kalbajar and a 26-kilometer section from Kalbajar to Istisu.

The Murovdag mountain range begins at the 13.5-kilometer point of the highway, with elevations rising from 1,700 to 3,250 meters. To facilitate safe winter operations, a tunnel was deemed necessary under the Murovdag range. This particular tunnel is one of the longest road tunnels in the world, ranking 18th globally, 5th in Europe, and 1st among CIS countries. It will feature four lanes, with two designated for each direction. The excavation works, along with the construction of 38 cross-passages connecting the sections, are complete. Additionally, four other tunnels with a total length of 2,636 meters are under construction as part of the project. Major works, including excavation and arch-concreting, have largely been finalized.

Overall, the Toganali-Kalbajar-Istisu highway project is 87 percent complete. Starting from the village of Toganali in the Goygol district, the road runs through the liberated city of Kalbajar and extends to the Istisu resort area. The highway is expected to provide convenient and safe transport links, boosting agriculture and tourism development across the region.