The road and transport infrastructure of the metropolis called St. Petersburg satisfies not only the needs of the city proper and supports the reliable connections of the Northern Capital with other regions of the country. By its geopolitical location this city also serves as a bridge between Russia and Eastern and Western Europe, Baltic and Nordic countries contributing to the development of trade and economy, scientific and cultural contacts and tourism. The city is crossed by the 9-th Multi-modal Corridor, to which our city adds strong port complexes and a well developed network of roads and rails as well as good air transport facilities.
        This location of our city facilitates the development of its economy and at the same time puts forward certain requirements that its transport infrastructure should meet.
        Today the road-transport system of the city is overloaded by the local and inter-city traffic. The greater St. Petersburg according to the official statistics has one million vehicles registered, 60% of which is operating on a continuous basis. The number of cars increased from 1992 to 1997 up to 160 vehicles per one thousand of people. By the year 2005 it is predicted that their number will grow to 250-300 units. Average daily traffic at the city entry roads has reached 180 thousand of vehicles, one third of them being trucks, 10-12% of the total traffic come to the city in transit.
        The total length of the roads within the city limits is 2 186 km, two third of it are the major city streets. The development of the city-road network is still lagging behind the growth of the traffic, resulting in certain problems. At the approaches to the city, on week-ends in particular, as well as in downtown and across city bridges with their approaches transport jams have become a regular feature.
        The Government of the city pays great attention to the development of city transport infrastructure, its up-grading and landscaping of adjacent areas as well as to a better management of the transport flows. The road construction and up-grading projects are based on a system approach aiming at step-by-step development of the transport network with adequate results. The following are but a few examples.
        The first section of the Ring Road is under construction, from Gorskaya to Priozersk Highway. Design documentation for the next section (Bronka Railway Station- Tallinn Highway) has been almost completed. As soon as the Ring Road becomes a full circle, vehicles in transit will not enter the city any more. The transport carriers and goods owners will be in a more advantageous position, while the city will have a better, clean environment since the amount of car discharges will go down. The transport safety within the city will improve. Architectural monuments, the pride of the city, will be better preserved experiencing less vibration; street noise will be also mitigated.
        There is also project of a High Speed Western Diameter, that when constructed, will connect business and industrial city areas with its full fledged transport hubs (sea and river harbours, Pulkovo Airport, Railway Stations and Multi-Modal Cargo Terminals located at the thoroughfares leading to Moscow, Baltic and Nordic countries.
        It is planned to complete the design of a network of multi-level road junctions (that will allow the cars to move without waiting at cross-roads) as well as high-speed roads, the absence of which has become an obstacle to the city's life and further development.
        Completion of Ushakov Bridge Junction (Primorskoye Highway at the city exit) was an important event. Also a bridge was built over the railway track in Sestroretsk. Roads are being up-graded in the vicinity of the Staraya Derevnya Underground Station, projects are implemented that up-grade the roads at the city entrance along Primorsk, Vyborg, Murmansk, Moscow, Tallinn and Pulkovo highways.
        To speed up the construction and revamping of transit roads and with due consideration of the problems of project financing from the federal or city budgets it was decided to develop a proposal to set up toll roads.
        Historical centre of the city also gets its share of attention. Using advance technologies road and sidewalk pavements are renovated, these are Admiralty Avenue and Konnogvardeysky Avenue, Nevsky and Liteyny Avenues, Birzhevaya and Vladimirskaya Squares. The number of "no cars" zones is mushrooming, they are Malaya Konnyushennaya and Malaya Sadovaya, just to name a few. Truda Square reconstruction is coming to an end, it is the first site in the city where the underground space is used in a semi-functional mode, Sennaya, Suvorovskayas and Konnyushennaya squares are waiting for their turn.
        All the banks of the Neva River are including in the City Planning Scheme of building non-stop distribution junctions. The first sections (on the right Neva bank -Okhtinskaya and left bank Smolnaya) have been finished. The rehabilitation of Sinopskaya and Aptekarskaya embankments will follow.
        Much efforts are focused in making our northern capital worthy of its name. Granite embankments, steps down to the water, lamps on the embankments and houses facing the river have been repaired and renovated. It is a welcoming feature that funds for these jobs have been allocated not only by the city government but by city private sector as well. In this connection we can mention Mr. Konstantin Filkov, Director of the Educo-Centre (Sinopskaya Embankment) and others. Architect Vladimir Popov created a beautiful metal fence behind Smolny Building facing the river. We soon shall see beautiful embankments of the upper Neva that will favourably compare with those in the lower Neva reaches.
        It can be pointed out that all the designs are quite bold and of high quality. This is the opinion of not only our people, but the same was stressed by many foreign experts.