- Статьи
- Society
- "All federal highways and a network of regional highways have been restored in the new regions"
"All federal highways and a network of regional highways have been restored in the new regions"
The number of travels on Russian roads only for ten months of this year amounted to 327 million, which is already almost 15% more than for the whole last year, said Vyacheslav Petushenko, chairman of the board of the state company Avtodor. According to him, the situation is especially difficult in the summer season. Therefore, the company intends to relieve the most congested areas through the construction of short sections and detours, in particular, in the Moscow region and Krasnodar Territory. About saving money in construction, repairing roads in new regions and preventing accidents with the help of innovative technologies, such as music lanes - in an interview with Izvestia.
"People do not so much come to refuel as to have a rest"
- The continuation of the M-12 highway, the section from Kazan to Yekaterinburg, was planned to be opened by the end of 2024. Will this deadline be met?
- We have accustomed everyone to deliver objects ahead of schedule, for example, in its current form, M-12 was delivered six months earlier. And the M-11 Tver bypass was completed a year earlier.
The situation with the section to Yekaterinburg is a little different. We will complete the facility on time in accordance with the contracts and launch it next year. There are three main parts to any project: deadline, price and quality - all of which need to be linked into one powerful management unit. And at this facility, we applied technologies that, among other things, allowed us to reduce construction costs - for example, we used local soils to build the embankment. This immediately reduced the price by 20%.
However, in these regions, unlike, for example, in the south of our country, the construction season is not so long. And this year, on top of everything else, we had an abnormally rainy summer. It is important for us to build not only quickly, but also to build qualitatively - it was impossible to carry out a number of technological processes in such weather conditions.
The degree of readiness of different sections on M-12 is different. In the Sverdlovsk region it is almost ready, the lighting is fully in place, but there is a piece in the middle that needs to be finished. In Bashkiria, work on the construction of a bridge across the Belaya River has reached the finish line; all ten spans have already been concreted. Asphalt concrete laying, barrier fencing, electric lighting and markings are ahead.
- What is being done now to develop the infrastructure of the M-12 highway?
- By the time of delivery, December 21, 2023, 18 permanent and four container gas stations (mobile gas stations. - Ed.) were already operating on the highway. Now there are 24 multifunctional zones (MFZ) with refueling complexes. All these rest areas were made last year and this year.
People come not so much to refuel as to have a rest. They want to get a full range of services that are necessary for both car and truck drivers. These include showers and the opportunity to wash and dry clothes. All of our multi-use areas have playgrounds for children, for sports, and the larger ones even have dog walking areas. Now we are actively building a hotel at the 423rd kilometer, which is the turnoff to Arzamas in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
We have already implemented mobile communication on M-12 in full - it did not require a single penny of budget funds. I believe that there are no problems with M-12. Next year we will introduce about six more multifunctional zones.
- How is the work on infrastructure development on toll roads going?
- On the M-4 highway from Moscow to Novorossiysk, my colleagues and I are already considering the possibility of modernizing the existing fueling complexes. After all, if earlier we built facilities with an area of 150-200 square meters, now we are building facilities with an area of at least 400 square meters. m.
We have recently opened two more flagship facilities on the M-11 - mirror MFZs on the Tver bypass. Today these are the largest road service facilities in Russia. The area of each of the filling stations within the MFZs is more than 1.5 thousand square meters.
Opening ceremony of the Tver northern bypass bridge on the 155th km of the M-11 "Neva" highway
This year alone, we have already opened nine modern MFZs, and in total, more than 110 such zones provide services to users on our road network.
"In recent years, we have seen an increase in traffic"
- What projects does Avtodor plan to implement in the coming years?
- At the end of the year on the Central Ring Road (CRR) we will commission a small, but very important for the Moscow region, section of the bypass of the village of Malye Vyazemy, which will make it possible to eliminate the intersection of the highway with the railroad tracks in the Smolensk direction. There is a very high intensity of traffic here - during rush hour trains run with an interval of 2-3 minutes. This creates serious problems for motorists, especially during the summer season.
Thanks to the opening of the overpass over the railroad, drivers will no longer lose time waiting for trains to pass. Commissioning will significantly improve transportation accessibility in Odintsovo, Zvenigorod, Golitsyn, Istra, Kubinka. As of today, the construction readiness of the facility is about 90%.
We are actively continuing the reconstruction of the M-1 highway. This is the Minsk direction to the Great Ring, to the village of Dorokhovo. It is planned to be commissioned in 2026. The section from New Moscow to Kaluga is also in great demand - on weekends the traffic reaches 80 thousand cars per day. But the four lanes that we have, categorically cannot cope. Now we are reconstructing this section.
We are also working on the Adler bypass. In 2027, we plan to complete a small section, about nine kilometers, which will relieve the road from Adler airport to Krasnaya Polyana and Sochi. We are also preparing road network development projects along the Black Sea coast on the instructions of the President.
- How has the traffic on high-speed roads changed? Has the traffic intensity increased compared to last year?
- In recent years, there has been an increase in traffic on the entire road network of state-owned Avtodor. While in 2023 the total number of vehicle passes on the entire network amounted to 285 million, in the first ten months of 2024 alone it is already 327 million.
As a rule, the intensity of traffic on highways increases in the summer season, and August is considered the peak month. In August this year, the average daily traffic intensity on the M-4 "Don" highway increased by 12% compared to August last year, on the M-11 "Neva" - by 5%.
Indicators of average daily intensity of traffic on M-4 "Don" increased by 8% on the results of ten months of this year compared to the same period last year.
It is also necessary to note the high demand among users of the new highway M-12 "Vostok" from Moscow to Kazan. Not even one year has passed since the launch of the traffic, and the number of travels on this highway has already exceeded 24 million.
- What are your forecasts for the end of this year and for 2025?
- We see that the intensity of traffic on the state company's highways is increasing every year. By the end of this year, the number of seasonally adjusted passages will increase. As for the next year, we can give an optimistic forecast for it as well, exceeding this year's figures.
- How is the road rehabilitation work going in the new regions?
- We went in there in April 2022 with almost no production capacity. Most of the men were at the front, the industrial construction materials base was either destroyed or undeveloped. The government made an absolutely correct decision to have federal structures go in there with their facilities and restore life there in the shortest possible time.
Now all federal highways have been restored, as well as the network of regional roads, which ensure the livelihood of each constituent entity - this is more than 2 thousand. km in two years. For example, entrances to medical facilities, schools and industrial enterprises. Next year we have a volume of just over 700 km planned. Fifteen bridges will also be rehabilitated.
"Translate the strokes on the road into notes".
- What innovative systems are you going to introduce on toll roads in the coming years?
- Automated traffic management systems have already become an integral part of the infrastructure of modern expressways. This is one of the most important conditions for ensuring traffic safety.
There are more than 3 thousand video cameras with the ability to record panoramic photos and videos, 433 dynamic information boards, 1391 variable information signs on the state company's road network. For round-the-clock monitoring of weather conditions, over 120 weather stations analyzing data on more than ten parameters have been installed.
Specialists of Avtodor's subsidiary Avtodor-Engineering, with the help of the laboratory of immersion technologies, developed special software that made it possible to translate strokes into notes and bring musical markings to life. It is applied on a section of M-11 in the Leningrad Region.
- How does it work?
- A car drives along special strokes on the asphalt. If it complies with the speed limit, a certain tune is played. In this case, it's "Kalinka-Malinka". In fact, its tempo controls the set speed, the melody helps the driver to concentrate and control his speed mode. If the music sounds too fast, it means that he is driving much faster than he should, taking into account the rules of road safety.
- What other systems will be implemented?
- On the state company's highways, an intelligent system for notifying vehicle drivers of a wild animal on the roadway is being piloted. Such complexes are installed in places where there is a probability of animals entering the road. With the help of thermal imaging cameras and video cameras, the system detects objects, and then the warning is transmitted to electronic boards, attracting the attention of drivers and alerting them to the danger in advance.
Such systems have already been installed on the highway M-1 "Belarus" in the Smolensk region, and in the past year the installation of the complex was completed on the road A-107 "Moscow Small Ring".
- How did the toll collection system without barriers "Free Flow" prove itself after a while?
- Now it operates on two highways - the Central Ring Road and M-12 "Vostok". It has a number of advantages for users. These include saving travel time, as there is no need to reduce speed or stop in front of barriers. In addition, it reduces the risk of getting into accidents when passing toll booths, saves fuel and improves user comfort.
- Do you plan to implement this system in your future projects and retrofit existing ones?
- Such a decision is made individually during the design process. The feasibility of implementation depends on many factors. These include the cost of construction and projected operating costs, the availability of land for the construction of conventional toll booths, and the level of toll collection.
In some cases, the decision is made to build a mixed system. For example, on the under-construction section of M-12 "Vostok" from the town of Dyurtiuli in Bashkiria to the village of Achit in the Sverdlovsk region, it is envisaged to build two frames of the "Free Flow" system and a barrier toll collection point on the central section of the road.
"On tolled sections the specific rate of fatalities is almost half lower"
- How quickly can the pavement of toll roads, which is under increased stress due to the flow of heavy trucks, be repaired?
- From 2021 to 2023, the increase in the number of heavy vehicles passing on toll sections amounted to 30%, and the number of passes last year amounted to 66.5 million. The increase in traffic, of course, puts a great strain on the road network. And we take this into account when designing and carrying out repair works, we constantly monitor the condition of the road. The decision to carry out works is made based on the results of a comprehensive inspection of the object. This year we have repaired, including major repairs, more than 400 kilometers of roads.
It is also important that timely execution of works before serious defects are formed allows us to significantly accelerate the repair schedule. In this case, road builders can bring the road surface to the standard several times faster compared to capital works.
- What is the situation with accidents on toll roads? What is being done to reduce the number of accidents?
- On toll high-speed sections the specific rate of fatalities per 100 kilometers is almost half, 43%, lower than on free sections. If we compare the state of accidents for nine months of this year on similar sections of M-12 and M-7 from Moscow to Kazan, the number of accidents on M-12 is three times less. This situation is also observed when comparing the indicators on M-11 "Neva" and M-10 "Russia", on M-11 the number of accidents is twice less.
Since 2017, the specific rate of fatalities per 100 kilometers on our entire road network has decreased by 56%, while our network has almost doubled over this time.
Every solution that we apply on the roads today, such as the same music strip, is based on the study of global experience and our own technical solutions. We inform drivers that 90% of accidents are due to our inattention and technical condition of the car. We strive to ensure that everywhere there was lighting, the surface of the roadway in winter was treated, the snow was cleaned. And if something happens suddenly, we inform all the time: 'Be careful, there are difficult conditions ahead'."
"We begin to prepare for the winter period in the summer"
- How annually does the number of accidents increase with the arrival of the winter season, if it does?
- We start preparing for the winter period back in the summer. To ensure safe passage on the road network, we carry out a whole range of measures, including preparing special equipment and materials for road surface treatment. For the maintenance of Avtodor's road network this winter, 230 thousand tons of pure chloride and 296 thousand tons of sand and salt mixture have been stockpiled.
The fleet of special road equipment for clearing snow and ice from highways includes more than 1.6 thousand units, including combined machines. The vehicles are deployed for pavement cleaning taking into account the data received from integrated automatic road weather stations and video cameras. Thanks to this monitoring system the processing of highways starts in advance - before the snowfall.
And on the basis of the obtained statistical data it can be noted that there is no increase in accident rates in the winter period. The highest accident rates are observed in summer - in July-August. In these months there are on average 200-220 accidents per month. At the same time, in winter months an average of 145 accidents are recorded.
The increase in accidents in the summer months is primarily due to a significant increase in traffic intensity during the vacation period, this is almost twofold. The decrease in accidents in the winter period is due to a reduction in the number of cars on the roads, including at the expense of drivers who do not use cars in winter, such as summer residents and vacationers.
It is also due to the fact that in unfavorable weather conditions drivers are more attentive on the road, concentrate on driving, keep an increased distance.
- Have you started preparing for winter routes? How is the road infrastructure in the most popular regions for winter holidays?
- Auto-tourism is becoming very popular now. As a rule, during the New Year holidays, peak traffic is observed on all major routes. These are M-11 "Neva", M-12 "Vostok", M-4 "Don".
We analyze the portrait of each user and his needs. They are actually very different. For example, vacationers have some needs, while dacha owners have other needs, just like tourists who go to a neighboring town for a few days. A separate category is business and individual entrepreneurs - truck drivers. We have to provide all these different segments and categories of citizens with a high level of service as much as possible.
Therefore, at the service facilities located on our road network, all users can have a good rest during their trips. MFZs are equipped not only with gas stations, parking lots, organized recreation areas, sports and children's playgrounds, but also with showers, laundry rooms, mother and child rooms, as well as stores and cafes with hot meals, which is especially important in winter.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
