General Directorate of Highways, Turkey

When the Republic of Turkey was declared in 1923; there were a total length of 18.350 km of road network; including 13.900 of macadam road and 4.450 km of dirt road with 94 bridges within our national borders. In the first years of the Republic, railway construction, which was the most modern technology of the period, gained importance, but after a while the railway was not enough by itself and the highway construction needed to be accelerated to reach the transportation goal of the country. Therefore, In 1929, The Headship of Macadam and Bridge was established under the Ministry of Public Works, and from then on, highway construction works was accelerated according to the National Highway Policies. As a result of the construction works between 1923 and 1947, the road network reached 43.743 km in total. In 1948, a major breakthrough was made in the field of construction techniques, then the period of road works based on digging up, shovel and human power were replaced by the industrial machines. After taking inventory of existing routes of the time, a road network that would meet the needs of Turkey's transportation was specified and determined. In March 1950, The General Directorate of Highways (KGM) was established with the motivation that all these activities should be directed and managed by a dynamic organization within a certain plan and program framework with the contemporary and technical methods. Since its establishment, The General Directorate of Highways (KGM) has continued its planned and programmed duties in accordance with the determined highway policies, giving priority to the construction of new roads on the main routes as well as maintenance and repair works of existing roads in its first years. As a result of this target, The General Directorate of Highways currently has a total length of 68.588 km of road networks, including 3.532 km of motorways.