S5 highway (Georgia)
 | |
|---|---|
| საერთაშორისო 5 | |
| Tbilisi–Bakurtsikhe–Lagodekhi (Azerbaijan border) | |
 | |
_near_Sagarejo.jpg) The four-lane S5 section near Sagarejo | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 162.8 km[1] (101.2 mi) |
| Existed | 1996–present |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | Tbilisi |
| East end | Azerbaijan border near Lagodekhi  |
| Location | |
| Georgia | |
| Municipalities | Tbilisi, Gardabani, Sagarejo, Gurjaani, Sighnaghi, Lagodekhi |
| Highway system | |
| |
The Georgian S5 highway (Georgian: საერთაშორისო მნიშვნელობის საავტომობილო გზა ს-5), also known as the Kakheti Highway, is a road of international importance in Georgia, with an official length of 162.8 kilometres (101.2 mi). Its statutory name is Tbilisi–Bakurtsikhe–Lagodekhi (Azerbaijan border) (Georgian: თბილისი-ბაკურციხე-ლაგოდეხი (აზერბაიჯანის რესპუბლიკის საზღვარი)).[1]
The highway runs east from Tbilisi via Sagarejo and Bakurtsikhe to the Azerbaijan–Georgia border in Lagodekhi Municipality. At the border, the road connects with Azerbaijan's M5 Yevlakh–Zaqatala–Georgia state border highway.[2] The adjoining Azerbaijani border post is the Mazimgara customs checkpoint, opposite Georgia's Lagodekhi checkpoint.[3]
History
The S5 designation was introduced as part of the transition to Georgia's post-Soviet road-numbering system in 1996. Presidential Decree No. 834 of 25 December 1996 listed the S5 as the Tbilisi–Bakurtsikhe–Lagodekhi–Azerbaijan border road. Its total length was then recorded as 160 kilometres (99 mi), divided between 140 kilometres (87 mi) on the national road authority's balance and 20 kilometres (12 mi) on the balance of Tbilisi.[4]
As result of the opening of the motorway section between Tbilisi and Tokhliauri, the defined length of the highway was adjusted in 2025 to 162.8 kilometres (101.2 mi), with 143.3 kilometres (89.0 mi) assigned to the Roads Department, while the Tbilisi governed section remained the same.[5]
Early number
Between 1982 and 1996 the route of the current S5 between Tbilisi and the junction West of Lagodekhi was referred to as A302, originally a highway of national importance within the Soviet road network.[6] Beyond the junction near Lagodekhi the road was part of the A315 to Zagatala and further into the Azerbaijan SSR.
Name and Tbilisi section
The name Kakheti Highway (Georgian: კახეთის გზატკეცილი) is used in more than one geographic sense. In English-language project documentation, the Roads Department of Georgia uses it broadly for the S5 transport corridor and its upgrading projects, including sections outside Tbilisi. For example, official procurement documentation describes the Sagarejo–Bakurtsikhe project as the modernization of a section of the “S5 Kakheti Highway”.[7]
Within Tbilisi, Kakheti Highway is also the name of a specific urban arterial. Municipal route documentation treats it as distinct from the adjoining streets. Bus route 337 is listed as passing successively along Ketevan Dedofali Avenue, Lech Kaczyński Street, George W. Bush Street, Kakheti Highway and Europe Street before reaching Tbilisi International Airport.[8] The initial section of the S5, Melaani Street in the Isani-Samgori district, named after the Kakhetian village Melaani, was renamed into George W. Bush Street by the Tbilisi City Council in September 2005.[9][10]
A Georgian encyclopedia published in 2008 used a broader description, defining Kakheti Highway as extending from Ketevan Dedofali Avenue to the Tbilisi municipal boundary. It states that the road originated in the 19th century and appeared on an 1895 map of Tbilisi under the name Navtlughi Highway (Georgian: ნავთლუღის გზატკეცილი).[11]
Upgrades
In the 2020s, the S5 between Tbilisi and Bakurtsikhe is being upgraded in stages to a divided controlled-access highway of two lanes in each direction. The first 35-kilometre (22 mi) section, between Tbilisi and Sagarejo (Tokhliauri), opened to traffic on 4 October 2024.[12]
Construction subsequently continued on the 17-kilometre (11 mi) Sagarejo–Badiauri section, creating a continuously 52-kilometre (32 mi) motorway between Tbilisi, Sagarejo and Badiauri upon completion.[13] The subsequent Badiauri–Chalaubani–Bakurtsikhe section of nearly 32-kilometre (20 mi) is set to be constructed in two separate iterations:
- Badiauri–Chalaubani, with a length of 22.6 kilometres (14.0 mi);
- Chalaubani–Bakurtsikhe, with a length of 9.1 kilometres (5.7 mi).[14]
The financing for these sections was approved in June 2026 as part of the wider TC-GATE transport project.[15]
References
- 1 2 "„საერთაშორისო და შიდასახელმწიფოებრივი მნიშვნელობის საავტომობილო გზების ნუსხის დამტკიცების შესახებ" საქართველოს მთავრობის 2014 წლის 18 ივნისის №407 დადგენილებაში ცვლილების შეტანის თაობაზე" [Amendment to Government Resolution No. 407 approving the list of roads of international and domestic importance] (in Georgian). Legislative Herald of Georgia. 23 January 2026. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "M-5 Yevlax-Zaqatala-Gürcüstan ilə dövlət sərhədi avtomobil yolunun Zaqatala-Balakən-Mazımçay hissəsinin əsaslı təmiri ilə bağlı əlavə tədbirlər haqqında" [Additional measures for the major repair of the Zaqatala–Balakan–Mazımchay section of the M5 Yevlakh–Zaqatala–Georgia state border highway] (in Azerbaijani). Official website of the President of Azerbaijan. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "Mazimgara customs checkpoint". State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "საქართველოს საერთაშორისო, შიდასახელმწიფოებრივი და ადგილობრივი მნიშვნელობის საავტომობილო გზების განსაზღვრის მაჩვენებლებისა და ნუსხის დამტკიცების შესახებ" [On approval of the criteria and list defining Georgia's roads of international, domestic and local importance] (in Georgian). Legislative Herald of Georgia. 25 December 1996. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "საერთაშორისო და შიდასახელმწიფოებრივი მნიშვნელობის საავტომობილო გზების ნუსხის დამტკიცების შესახებ" [On approval of the list of roads of international and domestic importance] (in Georgian). Legislative Herald of Georgia. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Decision of the Council of Ministries of the USSR of 08.27.1982 N 800 on Approval of the List of Roads of the USSR of National Significance". USSR Law (in Russian). 1982-08-27. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Contract Award Notification". Roads Department of Georgia. 3 December 2025. Scope of contract: modernization of the Sagarejo–Bakurtsikhe section of S5 Kakheti Highway. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "„ქალაქ თბილისის მუნიციპალიტეტის ადმინისტრაციულ საზღვრებში რეგულარული სამგზავრო გადაყვანის მიზნით ავტობუსების (M3 კატეგორია) მარშრუტების დამტკიცების თაობაზე" ქალაქ თბილისის მუნიციპალიტეტის საკრებულოს 2014 წლის 12 დეკემბრის №17-48 დადგენილებაში ცვლილების შეტანის შესახებ" [Amendment to Tbilisi City Assembly Resolution No. 17-48 approving M3-category bus routes within the administrative boundaries of Tbilisi] (PDF) (in Georgian). Tbilisi City Assembly. 20 December 2024. Annex 1, route 337. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "Tbilisi City Council Names Street after U.S. President Bush". Civil Georgia. 15 September 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ Mchedlidze, Kakha (14 September 2005). "თბილისში ერთ-ერთ ქუჩას ჯორჯ ბუშის სახელი მიენიჭა" [One of Tbilisi's streets named after George Bush]. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in Georgian). Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ თბილისი. ქუჩები, გამზირები, მოედნები [Tbilisi: Streets, Avenues and Squares] (in Georgian). Tbilisi: ქართული ენციკლოპედიის მთავარი სამეცნიერო რედაქცია. 2008. p. 97. ISBN 978-99928-20-35-3. Retrieved 2 August 2026 – via National Parliamentary Library of Georgia.
- ↑ "კახეთის 4 ზოლიანი მაგისტრალის პირველი 35 კმ-იანი მონაკვეთი გაიხსნა" [First 35 km section of the four-lane Kakheti highway opened] (in Georgian). Roads Department of Georgia. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "Minister of Infrastructure attends signing ceremony for a new transport project supported by the World Bank". Roads Department of Georgia. 10 June 2026. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "Georgia: Early Market Engagement for Highway Construction". World Bank. 19 December 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ "Georgia Boosts Role in Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor with World Bank Group Support" (Press release). World Bank. 2 June 2026. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
