Kurdistan
Work on the second part of Erbil’s 150-meter ring road continues along the Erbil-Shaqlawa road towards Erbil-Koya. Rudaw file photo
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 600 roads valued at over one trillion dinars (more than $763 million) have been constructed during the ninth cabinet of the Kurdistan Region, the minister of reconstruction told reporters on Sunday.
"We have so far carried out more than 600 road projects, with all of them costing over one trillion dinars," Dana Abdulkarim, the Kurdistan Region's reconstruction minister said.
Over 2,500 kilometers of new roads have been built and routes to 250 villages have been paved with asphalt during the ninth cabinet's tenure, the minister said during a visit to Halabja to follow up on a number of service projects being implemented in the province.
In late May, The Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers granted approval for nine major development projects in Halabja province, valued at approximately 96.65 billion Iraqi dinars ($73.3 million), including the construction of a free trade zone, multiple infrastructure upgrades, and a new provincial building.
The construction of roads in the Kurdistan Region has been a key focus of the ninth cabinet, with over "700 road and bridge projects completed, totaling 2,681 kilometers of public roads built or rehabilitated as of July 2025," according to the KRG.
Key projects include the Erbil-Duhok dual carriageway, the Erbil-Koya highway, the Smaquli-Gomaspan Road, and the Slemani's 100-meter road.
In the meantime, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said Sunday that traffic accidents in the Kurdistan Region have decreased by 50 percent, and traffic-related deaths by 60 percent, following the implementation of highway point-to-point radar systems.
Statistics from the Kurdistan Region’s interior ministry, obtained by Rudaw in May, reveal that 779 traffic accidents occurred across the Kurdistan Region in 2024, resulting in 98 deaths and 1,437 injuries.
While data for 2023 was unavailable, figures from 2022 showed that 3,706 accidents were recorded that year, leading to 445 fatalities and 7,250 injuries.
Accordingly, between 2022 and 2024, traffic fatalities in the Kurdistan Region dropped by 78 percent, from 445 to 98, while the number of traffic accidents also decreased from 3,706 to 779 incidents.
In 2010, the KRG prepared a 20-year master plan to convert all major roads into divided highways.
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