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The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Transportation Coordination Center (UKOME) has approved a new route allowing the city’s metrobus system to cross the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge during specific large-scale events.
These include sports, commemorative, or celebratory occasions when the 15 July Martyrs Bridge is temporarily closed to traffic.
Under the new plan, when the 15 July Martyrs Bridge (locally known as 15 Temmuz Sehitler Koprusu) is closed for maintenance or major gatherings such as the Istanbul Marathon, the Presidential Cycling Tour, or national holidays like Republic Day and Democracy and National Unity Day, metrobus services will be redirected to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge.
This decision aims to ensure uninterrupted transportation between the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
In the new arrangement, metrobuses departing from the Asian side will travel from the Sogutlucesme Station via the O-2 highway (known as the “environmental road”) and cross to the European side using the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge.
They will then continue through Buyukdere Avenue and Barbaros Boulevard to reach the Zincirlikuyu Station. For the return trip, buses from Zincirlikuyu will follow the same route in the opposite direction to reach Sogutlucesme.
The proposal, discussed at a UKOME meeting chaired by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Pelin Alpkokin and held at ArtIstanbul Feshane in Eyupsultan, was unanimously approved.
The plan ensures that metrobus operations will continue smoothly even when the main Bosphorus bridge used by the system is temporarily closed.
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