Chinese-built road project redirects traffic in Belgrade

BELGRADE — A new bypass section was opened to traffic in the Serbian capital Belgrade this week, which will help ease traffic from Belgrade's main highways.

At a ceremony on Wednesday for the opening of the final section of the Belgrade bypass from the Strazevica tunnel to the Bubanj Potok interchange, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said it will be the most important road to relocate traffic from the city center.

The 9.74-kilometer-long road was constructed by the Power Construction Corporation of China.

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo congratulated Serbia on the opening of the road, which is the fruit of labor of China-Serbia cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"The completion of this project redirects traffic from the overloaded basic network of city roads ... which contributes to shortening the travel time for transit flows, reducing the number of traffic accidents, the costs of vehicle exploitation, harmful gases and noise from vehicles in the inner city area," the Serbian government said in a news release.

Xinhua