04 May 2010

Since last week, the leaders of Ulaanbaatar have launched the largest infrastructure projects ever financed in Mongolie.

The first of these projects has, since last Saturday, closed the Gurvaljin Bridge to traffic, located at the far east of the city. This bridge will remain closed during renovation works that are expected to extend until August 25, 2010. Traffic in the east will therefore be disrupted for several months, with the works forcing drivers to take secondary roads.

Moreover, an important intersection north of the Gurvaljin Bridge will be partially closed throughout May due to maintenance works.

Further west, the eastern portions of Peace Avenue, Ulaanbaatar's main east-west axis, and the Ikh Toiruu, another important road parallel to Peace Avenue but just to its north, will also be partially closed due to renovation works.

Mongolia's capital is planning a budget of 74 billion tugriks (approximately 41 million euros) for the construction of new bridges and roads, as well as for the maintenance of existing ones, to address as quickly as possible the increase in urban population.

Another project, far more ambitious, was originally to be called Engels Bridge, but was renamed at the request of the builders as Narny Guur, the Bridge of the Sun. This elevated road, 895 meters long, will connect Narny Zam road, which leads to the city center at Sukhbaatar Square, with the Tsagaan Khaalga (the White Gate) in the Khan-Uul district at the southern entrance to the city. This project, carried out in partnership with the Japanese government, should allow by November 2012 to relieve traffic on Peace Bridge, currently the only bridge connecting the southern districts and airport arrivals with the city center.

Another of these elevated roads is planned, at a cost of 22 billion tugriks (approximately 12.2 million euros), southwest of the Narantuul, Ulaanbaatar's "black market" located at the far west of the capital. However, this latter project does not yet have a fixed date for the beginning of works.

It is therefore to be expected that until the completion of all these projects, traffic in Ulaanbaatar will not improve, and the drivers of Mongolia's capital will have to exercise patience.

Charlène Nomadays

SEO writer from the very beginning at Nomadays, now content manager and head of the communications department, Charlène has accompanied the adventure since its inception with passion and loyalty. After spending seven years in Asia – from China to Thailand, passing through Mongolie and South Korea – she has made travel a way of being in the world. A lover of words, nature and human encounters, she is committed to conveying in her writing a sensitive, engaged and responsible vision of tourism. For her, each article is a bridge between curiosity, respect and wonder.