Road works create inevitable problems for everyone who passes along the highway. A person driving a rhetorical question arises: "Is it really impossible to do without it?" But on one of the oldest roads near Moscow, this question was posed differently and very specifically: "When will the reconstruction of the Kaluga highway begin?"
It was impossible to put off further
The transport infrastructure of large cities, which Moscow undoubtedly belongs to, is the most important life support system for their large population. The system of transport communications has been formed over many years and decades. No less important for large cities are highways that provide communication with the regions. And inevitably there comes a moment when it is impossible to do without cardinal engineering solutions aimed at the reconstruction of what has ceased to meet the requirements of the time. Procrastination will inevitably lead to a worsening of the situation. It is these circumstances that caused the reconstruction of the Kaluga highway, the plan of which was finally approved and accepted for execution. Road work has now begun and is ongoing at an increasing pace.
From the history
The Kaluga highway, the reconstruction of which began in April of this year, is one of the most important transport routes providing communication between Moscow and the regions located south and west from it. This highway, designated in modern road atlases as the federal highway A-130, reaches the border with Belarus. On the territory of the Moscow Region, it passes along the Old Kaluga Road, one of the oldest communications in Russian history. The road received highway status under Emperor Nicholas I. The capital was connected along this route with Kiev and Warsaw, but due to a strange combination of circumstances, another road leads to the city of Kaluga. From a geographical point of view, the Kaluga highway is a direct continuation of the modern Profsoyuznaya street in Moscow.
Southwest issues
In order to increase the traffic capacity of the road and get rid of traffic jams that constantly occur throughout its entire length, it is necessary to increase the number of lanes and provide a separate dedicated lane for public transport. The reconstruction project of the Kaluga highway provides for the expansion of the route in the most stressful sections by two and even two and a half times. The main difficulty here is not so much in the technical as in the administrative sphere. The fact is that the southwestern direction is very in demand. Therefore, free land on which the extension of the federal highway should go is practically impossible to find on both sides of the road. Even if there is no development on the territory, the plot has its owner. And no one will want to part with it without benefit for themselves. It will not be possible to expand the Kaluga Highway without the rejection of land ownership rights, the reconstruction of which, however, allows dispensing with the demolition of residential facilities over the entire distance of work. For an acceptable solution of the land issue, the administrative authorities of the Moscow region have to make significant efforts.
What to do
To turn the road into a modern freeway, simply expanding it and increasing lanes is not enough. Kaluga highway, the reconstruction of which should be completed in about two years, will receive a number of engineering infrastructure facilities. The most important of them, of course, is the denouement at the intersection with the Moscow Ring Road. After completion of work, it will meet modern requirements. The reconstruction project of the Kaluga Highway, the scheme of which provides for the organization of non-traffic traffic, includes the construction and arrangement of nine other intersections at different levels. This is the denouement at the Teply Stan, at the entrance to the Mega shopping center, the turning tunnels at the settlements of Mamyri and the Gas Pipeline, the bridge over the Sosenka River, two tunnels in the area of ββthe Dubrovka residential complex and overpass near the village of Voskresenskoye. Throughout the route there will be 27 public transport stops equipped with special pavilions.
Stages of a large project
In full accordance with the basics of logistics, the reconstruction of the Kaluga highway, the scheme of which contains a significant number of complex engineering facilities, is divided into three stages. This allows you to concentrate all the available capacity on the speedy completion of each of the sites and, ultimately, the entire project. The length of the first section is about thirty kilometers, from the intersection with the ring road to the village of Voskresenskoye. At the second stage of reconstruction, work will be carried out at a distance from Voskresensky to the city of Troitsk. And at the final third stage - on the section from Troitsk to the Central Ring Road.
Interchange on the Ring Road
One of the most problematic places of the Kaluga highway is its beginning. Permanent traffic jams managed to become familiar as Trade Union Street approaches the Ring Road. The two-level automobile interchange existing here today has clearly ceased to fulfill its function in due measure. The reconstruction of the MKAD and Kaluga highway interchanges, the scheme of which was approved in the first stage of the project accepted for execution, includes the following measures: the construction of a tunnel from the inner side of the Ring Road to Kaluga Highway in the direction of the region (as a result of this, the interchange will become a three-level one), the construction of a directional turn overpass to the inner side of the Moscow Ring Road from the Kaluga Highway and the construction of collector-distribution side driveways along the Ring Road. Lateral driveways will be equipped in both directions of the route, they are designed to unload the main highway as traffic flows closer to the roundabouts. The situation is complicated by the fact that the entire planned cycle of reconstruction work must be completed without temporary decommissioning of the facility. But this practice has long been widespread. When developing a project for the reconstruction of this engineering structure, the experience of designing such objects both in Moscow and in the world's largest cities was taken into account. Road interchanges at the intersection of highways are traditionally considered the most complex and expensive infrastructure facilities.
Bypass areas
The rational moment of the project should recognize the decision to build bypass sites around existing housing estates. The ancient Kaluga highway, the reconstruction of which should turn it into a modern highway, passes through several settlements. Sosenki village, where the project provides for the construction of a new bridge over the river of the same name, is divided into two parts by the existing highway. Crossing the road is not always easy because of the heavy traffic flow. The detour will be longer, but movement along it will probably be faster. In other areas, the construction of elevated pedestrian crossings is provided .
Kaluga highway: reconstruction 2014 - project completion dates
Everyone who regularly uses this route cannot but be interested in the calendar dates for the completion of repairs, which are currently being carried out in accordance with the approved schedule. The available information is encouraging - the site to the village of Sosenki should be made already in the third quarter of this year. The site to Troitsk, according to the approved plan, was supposed to be commissioned two years after the start of work. But today, the schedule is being adjusted towards a shorter time frame. And there is every reason to believe that work at this distance will be completed in 18 months, in 2016. It is still too early to talk about the timing of the completion of the third part of the project - the section to the Central Ring Road. This part of the project is under development, and the timing of its proposed completion has not been approved.
Territory of New Moscow
In July 2012, a historic state decision was made to fundamentally change the geography of the city of Moscow. A significant part of the territory near Moscow entered the city limits. This also means that the Kaluga highway ceased to be a suburban highway. He had excellent prospects. In the coming years and decades, the capital is destined to develop in a southwestern direction. On both sides of the Kaluga highway, new modern residential complexes, many commercial enterprises and service structures will be erected. The investment attractiveness of the entire area located near this highway will increase.
Duplicate directions
In the very near future, the Kaluga highway should become one of the main highways of New Moscow. And this means, among other things, the need to unload it from traffic flows. Currently, options are being developed for the construction of duplicate routes running in a south-westerly direction. The first backup of the Kaluga highway will be the route from the village of Sosenki to the Central Ring Road. Its construction was deemed expedient on the grounds that the Kaluga highway may not be able to cope with all the traffic flowing along it, even after reconstruction. This circumstance is also supported by the fact that the route will completely pass through the undeveloped territory. This will not require the demolition of housing and the redeployment of failed utilities, which will positively affect the budget for the proposed construction.