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St.Petersburg - engaged with the ring road
L ast year our magazine already wrote about the ring road around St.Petersburg. The construction of such a highway has been talked about for more than 20 years. Is the stage of discussion and technical planning over and has the actual construction work begun? Yes. This year we plan to begin the construction work on the first section of the circular highway. Its length from the village of Bronka to Peterhoff will be 12.5 km. This section will make a part of the western semicircle of the highway the total length of which is 153.5 km. The working blueprints are being made now, so we really can say that the work has actually begun.
St.Petersburg is suffocating from the local and transit traffic. Its speed along the city thoroughfares is slow, the level of pollution, noise and harmful effects is very high. Specialists have analysed traffic streams and found that 30% of exported and 25% of imported freight goes through St.Petersburg. It is here that the transit traffic routes from Scandinavia to Europe and from Central Russia to the Baltic countries criss-cross. According to the Customs service up to 4000 heavy trucks cross the Russian — Finnish border daily. Most of this stream goes through St.Petersburg to the federal highways to Tallin, Kiev, Moscow, Murmansk and to the eastern regions of Russia. The transport problem is aggravating because the volume of freight is constantly growing. What should be done to encourage transit transport to use the ring road instead of going into the city? I would say quite a lot, indeed. The ring road will be the most updated divided highway in the Norh-Western region with two-lane traffic in each direction. The width of each lane will be 2.75 m the shoulders — 3.5 m, the divider — 4 m. The volume of earth removal is estimated at dozens of millions of cubic metres. Along the highway which will not pass through residential districts there will be roadcrossings at the junctions with radial thoroughfares and major railroads as well as 16 overpasses, 13 big and 18 minor bridges, 55 viaducts and 28 flyovers. The ring road requires the construction of one more bridge across the Neva near Krivoye Koleno south of the Neva Forested park. Its total length with approaches will be about 2 km. Most probably it will be a suspension bridge with a span of 350 m, a maximum clearance above the water of 30 m. A 240 m long tunnel is to be built near Rzhevka airport on the crossing of the highway with the runway.
The St.Petersburg dam will form a part of the ring road from Gorskaya on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland through Kronstadt to the village of Bronka on the southern shore. This part of the road is at least 80% completed with the exception of the tunnel under the vessel passing. It is planned to use a temporary ferry here with a capacity of 1000 vehicles a day. What will the maximum speed be on the ring road? What will its capacity be? Which parts will be put into operation first? Concerning the maximum speed it will be 120 km/h. The average capacity of the road will be 35 thousand vehicles per day. The construction of a four-lane road is likely to guarantee the growth of the traffic stream till the year 2025 and afterwards the widening of the road up to six lanes is quite possible, if needed. At the first stage of the construction the western semicircle will be built. It will divert the stream of transit transport from the Finnish border to the Baltic countries and to the South. So priority will be given to completing the road running on the dam and to building the highway from Bronka to the Tallin, Kiev and Moscow highways. That does not mean, though, that no construction work will be carried out in the other parts of the circular highway. In the east the circular road will go round the edge of the city and will run close to existing roads, which will help to avoid the problem of taking more land for the construction of the highway. What is the economic basis of the new highway? How will the construction be financed? How attractive is the project for foreign investors? The total cost of the circular highway will amount to $ 1.1 billion including $ 840 mln for the construction itself. The technical-economical estimation was carried out by an Italian company SPEA, which has an extensive experience in designing this type of highway in Europe. The diversion of transit traffic onto the circular highway will reduce the metropolitan traffic by two thirds. Using a highway with much better driving conditions will save drivers 50 000 hours per day. To guarantee the safety of driving on the highway traffic signs giving up-to-date minute information will be installed along it as well as barriers and a system of technical and emergency communication. The road will be well lit. Motels, camping, gas and car service stations, comfortable rest sites, cafes and restaurants, shops and first aid stations are to be built along the highway. There will also be terminals storage and discharge of freight.
The circular road will be the first toll road in Russia. It is approved by the Federal Transportation Department of Russia, by the Academy of Transportation, the Institute of Transport problems of the Academy of sciences of Russia and by the special State Commission. It is estimated that the toll for 1 km run will not be high. It will be 3.3 cent for a motorcar and 8.5 cent for a truck. Thus, with an average run of 40 km the toll will be $1.32 for a car and $ 3.4 for a truck. There will be 15 toll booths on the crossings of the circular highway with major radial thoroughfares leading to St.Petersburg. The construction of a first-rate highway around St.Petersburg and its infrastructure will give well paid jobs to several thousands of specialists for several years and will fill capacities of a number of road construction firms. The contract to carry out the work for various sections will be open to competitive bids.
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