Georgia’s Military Highway To Russia Undergoing Significant Expansion

Georgia’s Mtskheta–Stepantsminda–Lars Highway, also known as the Military Road, is undergoing a large-scale modernization, including a 27 km high-speed section and numerous new bridges.

The Georgian government is spending about 1.2 billion lari (US$450 million) in upgrades, which includes the construction of the longest arch bridge in the country and a strategically important tunnel, with completion scheduled for 2028.

This includes a reconstruction of the 27 km section from Tsitsamuri to Zhinvali, which will become a four-lane motorway. The project includes the construction of 16 bridges, allowing vehicles to speed at up to 120 km/h, reducing travel time to 15 minutes.

Georgia’s steps are a response to the growth in bilateral trade turnover with Russia. According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, a record 4.8 million tonnes of cargo passed through the Verkhny Lars border crossing during 2024 and was the highest volume among all automobile checkpoints in Russia. That was a 1.5 times increase from 2023, when volumes reached 3.3 million tonnes.

About 70% of the volumes going along this route consist of food products and drinks. Russia is the main supplier of grain to Georgia and a key buyer of Georgian wine.

The Georgian Ministry of Transport has stated, “We do not build a road for the sake of prestige. We build it to ensure the sustainability of supplies. Cargo traffic through Lars has grown by 30% per year. Investments in infrastructure are investments in our regional influence and stability.

On the Russian side, the only functioning checkpoint, Verkhny Lars, was recently modernized with the organization of 39 lanes at the checkpoint. However, the access roads to it, namely the highway from Vladikavkaz, remain predominantly just two lanes, and there are concerns this could lead to bottlenecks.

From October 2025, an electronic queue system was introduced at Lars; however, as was noted by Russian transport analysts, an electronic queue does not add lanes to the roads. The onus is now on the Russian side—the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania—to match Georgia’s ambitions.