Economic and social development of local communities in the Kolarctic area through optimization of transport infrastructure development on a base of the common Barents Region Transport Strategy responding to new challenges arising in the Arctic and Northern periphery. Achievements: The project has built ways to enhance the transit potential of the Barents region. The fact that south-north routes dominate in the northern areas, because of the long history of transport system development, was known at the beginning of the project. All the Barents region states have traditionally had their own national strategies within the confines of the borders. These strategies still rely on the inertia of south-north thinking. The Barents Freeway project has set its target beyond those borders. The main outcome of the project "The Draft Barents Transport Strategy" aims to integrate the strategies across borders by creating a common approach to transport system development while relying on national objectives. Better integration of the Barents region transport network with the European TEN-T network has been highlighted, as well as the Eurasian road, rail and maritime corridors.