Transcaucasian highway partially open to traffic

VLADIKAVKAZ, January 8 (Itar-Tass) - The Transcaucasian highway has
been partially opened to traffic since Thursday evening, the spokeswoman
for the Emergency Situations Ministry of North Ossetia told Itar-Tass.
The mountainous road that crosses the Greater Caucasus through the
Roki Tunnel, connecting North Ossetia-Alania with South Ossetia and Russia
with Georgia, is open from 17:00 to 10:0. At night, temperatures in the
mountains fall, which decreases the risk of avalanches, spokeswoman Yulia
Starchenko said.
On Thursday, the temperature rose by six degrees Celsius, which caused
several snowslides. Road services quickly cleaned the road and traffic
resumed from 17:00, she added.
The Transcaucasian highway, also known as Transkam, was built between
1971 and 1981, as an alternative to the older Georgian Military Road and
Ossetian Military Road.
-0-myz