At the beginning of the pass, the Kusein Kolbaev Tunnel was built. The length of the tunnel is 2510 meters.
According to open sources, in 1930 there were only 20 cars in Kyrgyzstan, in 1935 their number increased to 200, in 1946 to 2400, and in 1951 to 12,000.
With the increase in the number of cars, road construction began to actively develop in the country.
The highway connecting the cities of Frunze and Osh was strategically important for Kyrgyz people, but due to World War II, its construction was delayed for a long 24 years. Before the construction of this road, it was very difficult for shepherds to drive livestock to the pastures of the Suusamyr Valley. In 1940, 18,000 Kyrgyzstanis took up picks, shovels, and other tools to start building the highway. Work continued in both rain and heat.
The tunnel at the Töö-Ashuu Pass, 1971
// Turmush
In the 1940s, authorities planned the construction of a highway connecting the southern and northern regions of Kyrgyzstan. Before this, Kyrgyzstanis traveled to the southern capital – the city of Osh through the city of Tashkent in Uzbekistan. They had to cover more than 100 extra kilometers. The construction of the Bishkek—Osh highway was a very large project, so funds were allocated from the USSR budget. The construction of the tunnel at the Töö-Ashuu Pass was particularly costly.
Engineers who had previously built the metro came from Moscow for the construction of the tunnel. Thousands of local residents were involved in the work. Thus, after 1962, the opening of the highway connecting the north and south of Kyrgyzstan took place. Many were awarded medals for their contribution to the construction of this strategic road.
Now, more than 500,000 cars pass through the Bishkek—Osh highway every year. The main highway of the country was repaired from 1996 to 2007. During the repair work, one tragic incident occurred: on August 3, 2001, as a result of a traffic jam in the tunnel at the Töö-Ashuu Pass, 5 people died. The accident happened due to a truck that stalled inside the structure. The enclosed space quickly filled with carbon monoxide. This tragedy became a harsh lesson for the builders: specialists improved the ventilation system, installed lighting inside the tunnel, and set up video cameras and fire alarms.
