Vladimir Putin (right) driving a car at the opening ceremony of the Tver Northern Bypass on the M-11 Neva Highway. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev/Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation/TASS
Vladimir Putin is glued to the wheel. Most recently, he drove Kim Jong-un in his Aurus in Pyongyang. Then Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his residence in Novo-Ogarevo. Now I got behind the wheel on the M-11 Moscow-Petersburg highway.
Of course, it was not for nothing that he arrived at the opening of the Tver Northern Bypass – the last section of the Neva Highway – on an Aura (a new Lada model. Read more about the car below) for the first time – at the opening of the Tver Northern Bypass. They had been waiting for it for a long time, from the first day when cars started driving on this road. And then it happened. Now you can get from Moscow to St. Petersburg without exits, without stops, without populated areas.
“HOW ARE YOU?”
Putin did not travel alone, but accompanied one of the builders of the new site, engineer Vasily Vasilyev, who told the president how the work was going:
“Tell me how you are…” the Russian leader began, without looking up from the road.
– Things are going very well. It was difficult to build, but (the plans) were implemented… Given the new deadlines, the project was to be completed exactly one year earlier. Which, in principle, we achieved.
“A year earlier is fantastic,” Putin praised. – And why?
– Because of the organisation, the professionalism of the management team and the workers themselves. And – considering that they were building – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, continuously, despite the bad weather and meteorological conditions…
– How many people were employed?
– About two thousand people.
– To what extent will traffic between St. Petersburg and Moscow be reduced?
– About an hour. Because on the M-10 section there are traffic lights, cameras… – all this increases the travel time… Everything is fine with the lighting too – along the 64 kilometres. You can notice that all the wiring is hidden, that is, there are no visible cables…
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the ceremony to open to traffic along the entire Tver Northern Bypass on the M-11 Neva Highway and the Tolyatti Bypass. Photo: Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS
WHAT WE HAVE IN THE LATEST:
1. A good road between the two capitals, where there are no additional barriers or populated areas.
2. The average speed is 110-130 km/h.
3. Every 20 km there are rest points: bathroom, tables under roof.
4. Gas stations: approximately every 50 km.
5. Travel time is approximately 7 hours.
6. Cost: around 5 thousand.
– This is part of the implementation of our international plans and agreements on the development of the Eurasian road infrastructure, on the development of the Russian section of the Europe-Western China route from St. Petersburg to Orenburg and Sagarchina with access to Kazakhstan and further to the People’s Republic of China. Our other comprehensive and systemic tasks include further development of the “Russia” and “North-South” transport corridors and, most importantly, the creation of a modern road network throughout the country, in all regions, in cities and towns, in rural areas,” Vladimir Putin noted. He had already reached the end of his tour when he stepped onto the stage right on the road surface.
BY THE WAY
Along with the Tver bypass, another important road was opened – the Tolyatti bypass. This is a four-lane highway, almost 100 kilometres long. It allows you to go around the city and with it the busy Volzhskaya hydroelectric power station. There are three junctions and 39 bridges on the road (one of them is the new bridge over the Volga) and overpasses.
