Anticipate risks: traffic police and road builders discussed highway development
At the strategic session "Prospects for the Development of Road Activities until 2035" held in Moscow, representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Automobile Inspectorate, Ministry of Transportation and road builders discussed the development of highways in our country for the coming years. Along with the construction and reconstruction of highways, the key direction of the new national project "Infrastructure for Life" should be the reduction of accidents and deaths on the roads, emphasize the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This can only be achieved with a comprehensive approach to the development of the road industry, experts say. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
New horizons
For six years of the national project "Safe Quality Roads" (SQR) more than 160 thousand km of highways were built, reconstructed and repaired in Russia. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin within the framework of the strategic session "Prospects for the development of road activities until 2035". According to him, now, when the BKD is replaced by a new national project "Infrastructure for Life", it is important to determine the strategy of road development not only until 2030, but also for the next planning period.
"The national project "Safe Quality Roads" has become the most recognizable and the most supported project among the population of our country. And I would very much like this trend to continue for the next six years", - Marat Khusnullin emphasized during the discussion of the prospects for the development of the road sector.
Deputy Prime Minister noted that the priority of the new project is to bring the existing road facilities to a normal condition, especially in areas with high traffic intensity. In the construction of new highways it is necessary to attract extrabudgetary sources of financing more actively, as well as to use the mechanism of co-financing, said Marat Khusnullin.
According to the head of the Federal Road Agency (Rosavtodor) Roman Novikov, the main indicators to be realized in the road sector until 2030 are fixed in the relevant instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In particular, to bring to 85% of the length of federal highways, promising the normative requirements, to increase to 85% the share of highways that meet the established parameters, in the so-called network of reference roads, to bring 60% of regional highways to the normative condition.
- The new tasks include modernization of road infrastructure in 105 largest urban agglomerations and 2160 reference settlements. In addition, 50 transportation bypasses of cities will be built within the framework of the six-year plan of road activities, - said the head of Rosavtodor.
Taking into account the risks
Along with the development of the road network , the head of state has set the task to reduce the death rate as a result of road accidents by one and a half times by 2030 and twice by 2036 compared to the figures of 2023, recalled First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Gorovoy. He emphasized that road safety aspects are extremely important for achieving the goals of the national project "Infrastructure for Life". The First Deputy Head of the Russian Interior Ministry drew attention to the significant risks associated with ignoring road safety issues when assessing the normative condition of highways.
According to him, the key measures contributing to the reduction of deaths in road accidents are the use of new technologies and materials in the construction, repair and reconstruction of highways, separation of oncoming traffic flows. Also the installation of roadblocks, lighting, road signs and traffic lights, arrangement of crosswalks, public transport stops, etc. contribute to the reduction of accident rates and mortality.
As Oleg Ponaryin, deputy head of the State Automobile Inspectorate, stated, it was possible to achieve a noticeable reduction in accident rates in recent years "due to the clear definition of tasks and goals at all stages of the national project BKD, the formation of a composition of target indicators by year, month and region". The traffic police expect that the same approach and active interaction with regional project teams will continue in the implementation of the new national project "Infrastructure for Life".
"Even asphalt is not enough"
Incorrect assessment of potential risks and, as a consequence, a superficial approach to road infrastructure development in a number of situations lead to certain failures in road safety issues after the opening of repaired or reconstructed highways, says Igor Morzharetto, a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
- Unfortunately, there are examples of how accident rates start to rise on a new highway. The psychological effect works: being on a good highway, the driver subconsciously "adds gas". That's why a smooth asphalt is not enough, the accompanying road infrastructure is also extremely important - markings, roadblocks, separation barriers, lighting, signs, etc.," he told Izvestia.
Valery Soldunov, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists, also believes that a smooth and smooth highway cannot ensure traffic safety by itself.
- A comprehensive approach is needed. Probably, somewhere after the reconstruction of the highway, there will be a need for a larger length of acceleration and braking lanes, somewhere additional road signs are needed. If we talk about urban roads, artificial bumps are a good way to make drivers slow down. The need for these and other additional road infrastructure facilities should be assessed and calculated in advance," says the chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists.
Camera environment
Experts call photo-video fixation complexes a good way to prevent traffic violations, including on new or reconstructed roads.
- Cameras are allowed to be installed on road sections where accidents have already occurred. Perhaps it makes sense to adjust these rules so that complexes for fixing traffic violations could be placed on potentially dangerous sections of the highway without waiting for an accident to occur there, - says Igor Morzharetto.
Road cameras can be treated differently, but their contribution to safety is obvious, believes Valery Soldunov.
- In my opinion, the main thing is that the driver should be warned that the road section is monitored by a camera. If the driver ignores this warning, then, perhaps, the received fine will make him comply with traffic rules next time. But if the equipment records a violation as a fait accompli, with no attempt to prevent it, then this is already weakly associated with prevention," the chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists told Izvestia.
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