On 26 September 2022, MIP held a ceremony in the presence of the Governor of the Mersin province Ali Hamza Pehlivan, to launch the ‘Gate Project’, a grand infrastructure project to improve the traffic situation around the Mersin Port. Overall, MIP will spend 500 million Turkish Lira (USD27 million) to allow trucks to enter and exit the Mersin port directly from the highway and upgrade the terminal’s gates to reduce waiting times.
The Gate Project, a partnership between MIP and the Mersin Governorship, Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, Turkish State Railways, and the General Directorate of Highways, will greatly benefit traffic circulation. Ten months from now, vehicles carrying containers and conventional cargo will be able to enter and exit the port directly through two connection points with the highway. This means that these heavy vehicles will no longer have to pass through the city. In a nextstage, MIP will upgrade its gate complex, including the installation ofsix automized entry and exit gates. This will significantly reduce waiting times for trucks that come to the terminal to load and unload their cargo. This upgrade will be completed by the first quarter of 2024. In hisspeech at the groundbreaking ceremony, MIP General ManagerJohan Van Daele highlighted the symbiotic relationship between the development of MIP and the city of Mersin, “With this Gates Project, we will not only be improving current traffic conditions; we will also be preparing the region to accommodate the future growth of our port, which in turn will bringmore prosperity to the region.”
Mersin Governor Ali Hamza Pehlivan, who attended the ceremony, said, “The Gates Project will provide great relief in the truck traffic of Mersin port, which serves 50 percent of our country’s hinterland with 5000 truck entries daily. With the project, both new gates will be opened, and existing gates will be modernized. Within the scope of the project, which will be completed in three stages over a period of 18 months, cost advantages will be provided in line with the reduction of the density inside and outside the port and the time that commercial vehicles will save. I would like to thank the project partners and all relevant organizations and wish the Gates Project to be beneficial to our province and our country.”
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
