The first phase of a major freeway project connecting south of Tehran to the capital’s western flank is scheduled to be completed by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2017), the Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi said on Thursday. The 38-km roadway, which is one of the four phases of the 158-km freeway, has made 32% progress, according to Akhoundi’s deputy Ali Nourzad. The government gave the project to the engineering firm Kahtam-al-Anbia Construction Headquarters – affiliated to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps – in March. It is estimated to cost 1.5 trillion rials ($428 million), IRNA reported.
