Osmangazi Bridge Connected Marmara Region and Cut Travel Time
As a coastal city of the Marmara region, Yalova has always worked on improving its sea transportations. The country’s official public boat travel carries both cars and passengers, as well as cargo between two sides of the Marmara Sea. The city economy was already booming with local restaurants and hotels to accommodate travellers who move around the country. It was a great resting spot for anyone who moved from or to Istanbul that either just travelled 2 hours non-spot around the sea, or was just about to start their rides. The province’s closeness to the Osmangazi Bridge, which connects the regions by highways makes Yalova an incredible location for easy investments.
In 2013, the government of Turkey announced a new project to cut the travel time from 2 hours to 6 minutes between Yalova and Istanbul. The Osmangazi Bridge was planned together with Japan, and opened in 2016. The project was designed as a suspension bridge to curtail the journey time to 6 minutes from more than two hours to reach Kocaeli from Istanbul and was opened in June 2016.
Ever since its announcement, Osmangazi Bridge has boosted the property sales to foreigners in Yalova.
Osmangazi is the first and main point of the Gebze-Izmir highway project, which will reduce the distance between the cities of Istanbul and Izmir from 9 to less than 4 hours. The Osmangazi Bridge is the fourth-longest suspended bridge in the world.
More than 8,000 workers, engineers, and specialists were involved in the construction of the 2,682-meter bridge 36 meters high and its towers 252 meters, the bridge is considered eco-friendly. It runs by the narrowest point of the Gulf of Izmir in the Marmara Sea, and is the fourth-longest arched bridge in the world.
The bridge eases transportation both for leisure and industrial, while contributing to the national economy through the priced highway booths. The Osmangazi Bridge is also the most important point in the Gebze-Izmir highway project, which costs approximately $9 billion USD.
The bridge began to establish new industrial areas in the Yalova area around itself through several local projects that helped the province evolve. It continues to boost the regional economy to this day.
