Osmangazi Tunnel
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The Osmangazi Tunnel (Turkish: Osmangazi Tüneli), formerly Kocatepe Tunnel, is a road tunnel constructed on the Adapazarı–Bilecik state highway D.650 in Bilecik Province, western Turkey.
Overview | |
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Location | Vezirhan–Bilecik, Turkey |
Coordinates | 40°10′58″N 30°00′57″E |
Status | Operational |
Route | D.650 |
Operation | |
Work begun | 2003 |
Opened | 2010; 14 years ago (2010) |
Operator | General Directorate of Highways |
Traffic | automotive |
Technical | |
Length | 2,465 and 2,474 m (8,087 and 8,117 ft) |
No. of lanes | 2 x 2 |
Operating speed | 80 km/h (50 mph) |
It is situated between Vezirhan and Bilecik bypassing the Gülümbe Pass with hairpin turns. The 2,465 and 2,474 m (8,087 and 8,117 ft)-long twin-tube tunnel carries two lanes of traffic in each direction. The 745 and 840 m (2,444 and 2,756 ft)-long Ertuğrulgazi Tunnel is located north of it. The highway Mekece-Bilecik-Bozüyük on the north-south directed D.650 at a distance of 86 km (53 mi) is a heavy traffic route for transport of industrial and agricultural products connecting the regions Marmara, Aegiean, Central Anatoli and Mediterranean.[1]
In 2000, a financial agreement was signed between the Turkish and Japanese governments to build a divided highway with two tunnels at the steep pass. Construction works on the highway began in 2003, and in 2010 the route was put into service.[1] The tunnel was initially named Kocatepe Tunnel, but was renamed in 2009 in honor of Osman Gazi (1258–1326), who founded the Ottoman Empire in the region.[2]