396 Kilometers of South Khorasan Roads Restored; 30 Road Maintenance Crews on Standby

396 Kilometers of South Khorasan Roads Restored; 30 Road Maintenance Crews on Standby

According to Mehr's reporter, Javad Zaker, the acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate, in his first press meeting with journalists, outlining the seven-month performance of this general directorate in the year 1405, said: Road maintenance and improvement, correction of accident-prone points, development of rural roads, promotion of traffic safety and strengthening of transportation services have been among the most important axes of this body's activity in the past seven months.

He, referring to the extent of the province's road network, added: South Khorasan has 17,800 kilometers of roads, of which 2,566 kilometers are arterial roads and 15,234 kilometers are non-arterial roads, and maintaining this wide network makes the continuous implementation of road maintenance operations necessary.

Restoration of 396 kilometers of roads in seven months

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate, referring to the actions taken in the field of road maintenance, said: In the seven months of this year, restoration, improvement and maintenance operations have been carried out on a total of 396 kilometers of the province's roads.

Zaker continued: Of this amount, 182 kilometers relate to arterial and main roads, 114 kilometers to secondary roads and 100 kilometers to rural roads.

He listed the Birjand–Qaen–Khezri, Birjand–Sarbisheh–Nehbandan and Ferdows–Bajestan axes among the priority axes in the road maintenance program.

Correction of 7 accident-prone points

Zaker, referring to the actions taken to promote the safety of the province's roads, stated: In the seven months of this year, seven accident-prone points have been corrected and removed, and repair and widening operations on 28 bridges have also been carried out.

He added: During this period, the construction or conversion of waterways (fords) to bridges in 13 units, the implementation of concrete barriers and guardrails, and the follow-up of projects to correct accident-prone points and major bridge repairs have been on the agenda.

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate, referring to the notable projects of this field, said: Removing the accident-prone point of the Bajd intersection on the Birjand–Sarbisheh–Nehbandan axis and making safe the entrance, exit and U-turns of the Khatereh complex on the Birjand–Khusf axis are among the implemented or being-completed projects, with the Khatereh complex project reaching 95 percent physical progress.

Zaker continued: In the field of safety equipment, 3,740 kilometers of road marking have been carried out, 6,142 traffic signs designed and installed, and 546 square meters of information signs installed or repaired.

He announced the installation of 7.4 kilometers of barriers and guardrails and the correction of embankment slopes on 105 kilometers of the province's axes, and said: 28 contracts related to correcting accident-prone points and major bridge repairs, with an average physical progress of 60 percent, are also under implementation.

61 villages with over 20 households still lack a suitable asphalted road

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate, referring to the situation of the province's rural roads, stated: In the seven months of this year, the asphalting of 21 kilometers of rural roads has been completed, and 18 villages have gained an asphalted road.

He added: The province's rural road network is about 11,500 kilometers, and the asphalt coverage index in this network reaches 52.3 percent.

Zaker, referring to the situation of roads of villages with over 20 households, said: Of a total of 918 villages covered by this index, 857 villages have an asphalted road, and 61 villages still lack a suitable asphalted road.

He continued: Currently, 36 rural road projects with a length of about 200.5 kilometers are under implementation in the province, of which 17 projects are active and their average physical progress reaches 49 percent.

30 road maintenance crews on standby for the winter season

Zaker, referring to planning for crisis management and winter road maintenance, said: The South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate, with 34 road maintenance bases, including 13 central road stations and 21 en-route road stations, pursues the necessary readiness to provide services on the province's axes.

He added: There are 18 salt and sand warehouses in the province, and of a total of 16,500 tons of materials needed for the current year, 14,000 tons have been supplied and stockpiled.

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate continued: For winter operations, 30 operational crews will be stationed on the communication axes, and the needed manpower, including 146 machinery operators, 136 operational road workers and 58 procurement and support forces, has been envisaged.

He announced the province's dedicated road maintenance fleet as including 37 light machines, 40 semi-heavy and 76 heavy machines, and said: The purchase of 10 imported small trucks, two loaders and two excavators, as well as the repair and commissioning of machinery with priority on winter equipment, are in the fleet renewal and preparation program.

Transport of more than one million passengers in the province

Zaker, explaining the performance of the public passenger transport sector, said: In the seven months of this year, 110,582 trips have been made with the province's public passenger fleet, which has grown five percent compared to the same period last year.

He added: During this period, 1,126,250 passengers have been transported. The province's passenger fleet is 863 vehicles, and 1,338 drivers are active in this sector.

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate, referring to services during national and religious occasions, stated: During the days of the funeral procession of the martyred Leader's body, 49 trips to Tehran and Qom were made, transporting 384 passengers, and 728 trips to Khorasan Razavi, transporting 13,784 passengers.

He continued: During Arbaeen 1405 as well, 364 trips were made to transport 10,706 pilgrims and servants. Also, in the last ten days of the month of Safar, 1,377 trips were registered to transport 33,549 pilgrims on the round-trip route.

Transport of more than 4.6 million tons of goods

Zaker, referring to the province's freight transport capacities, stated: South Khorasan has 131 freight transport companies, 6,895 freight vehicles and 10,921 freight drivers, and three freight terminals and one transport town are also active in this sector.

He said: In the seven months of this year, 4,619,311 tons of goods have been transported in the province with the issuance of 247,113 bills of lading.

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate added: Of the total goods transported, 1,385,793 tons relate to intra-provincial transport and 3,233,518 tons to inter-provincial transport.

He listed bagged and bulk cement, sponge iron, coal and iron-ore concentrate among the most important goods transported in the province, and said: Mashhad, Isfahan, Kerman, Yazd, Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Iranshahr, Semnan and Tehran are the main destinations for goods transport.

Growth of exports and goods transit from South Khorasan

Zaker, referring to the province's international transport performance, stated: In the seven months of this year, 612,227 tons of export goods have been transported through 13,114 trips, with export tonnage increasing 44 percent compared to the same period last year.

He named cement, ironware, tiles and ceramics, and agricultural products among the province's important export goods.

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate, referring to the growth of goods transit, added: During this period, 929,314 tons of transit goods have been transported in the form of 38,234 trips, with transit tonnage increasing by more than 82 percent.

He announced the number of incoming vehicles as 47,673 and the number of outgoing vehicles as 46,614, and said: Oil, spare parts, sugar and herbal medicines are among the transit goods that enter the transport cycle from various points of entry, including Bandar Abbas and the countries of the UAE, Indonesia, India and China.

Supervision of the fleet and smart traffic control

Zaker, referring to supervisory measures and the smartening of road management, said: In the seven months of this year, 3,353 vehicles have been inspected in road and gate control and supervision plans.

He added: 15,518 technical inspection cards have been issued and 4,430 technical inspection rejections have also been registered. Also, within the framework of over-tonnage control, 6,394 violations have been legally dealt with, an increase of 43 percent compared to the same period last year.

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate announced the issuance of 773 transit permits and said: The repair and calibration of 24 fixed and mobile weighbridges and the holding of five sessions of the province's Road Safety Commission have been among the other measures in this field.

He, referring to the road monitoring infrastructure, stated: Traffic management in the province is carried out using 80 road traffic counters, 67 speed-violation recording systems, 37 video surveillance cameras, four variable message signs and 314 road-maintenance fleet trackers.

Supervision of the province's 39 service and welfare complexes

Zaker, in conclusion, referring to road welfare services, stated: 39 service and welfare complexes are active on the communication axes of South Khorasan, and in the seven months of this year, 170 supervisory visits have been made to these complexes.

He added: In these visits, the hygiene and cleanliness situation of restrooms, prayer rooms and public places, compliance with health standards, handling of violations and following up on user dissatisfaction are examined.

The acting head of the South Khorasan Road Maintenance and Road Transportation General Directorate emphasized: Improving the quality of welfare services, improving health conditions and increasing the satisfaction of travelers and drivers are the goals of continuous supervision of the province's service and welfare complexes.