The General Directorate of Highways (KGM) is beginning feasibility studies for a third bridge across the Bosporus. A tender for consultancy and engineering services is expected to be issued by the end of the year, according to the weekly EBA report.

The exact location has still to be decided, but it will be built between the two existing bridges. The six-lane road bridge, along with a 25-kilometre connecting highway, is expected to cost about $700 million. The project will be financed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, with the winning contractor operating it for 10-15 years before handing it back to the state.

The project has provoked controversy ever since it was announced in the early 1990s. Last year, a row broke out between the government and Istanbul Municipality over the inclusion of the bridge in the 1998 government investment plan. The municipality argued that it would damage green areas of the city and advocated a sub-sea metro project in its place (MEED 19:8:98).