The federal highway "Russia", called by the Muscovites Leningradka, the road connecting the two capitals and having strategic importance - all this is the M10 highway.
What happened before and what awaits motorists in the future
The history of the highway began even before the construction of St. Petersburg. Its segment connected Moscow and Novgorod with the entrance to Tver. Today it is possible to cover such distances by car or bus in just a few hours, and in the distant sixteenth century it took several days. Of course, this kind of trip could not be made without stopping for the night, therefore settlements along the road appeared (post stations). One of them is Valdai.
The M10 highway connected Moscow and St. Petersburg in the second half of the eighteenth century, construction was carried out by decree of Peter I. Partially, it repeated the route of an artificially created waterway laid from the Tver region to the Baltic Sea, providing the needs of the actively developing northern capital with food and other necessary goods.
Of course, the newly opened M10 highway, although it had no such name at that time, was a breakthrough in Russian road construction. Not surprisingly, it became one of the main transport routes connecting central Russia with its northwestern part. She has not lost a similar status today, despite the fact that there are many questions about her technical condition.
It is noteworthy that the length of the road has since decreased by seventy-two kilometers and today is 706 kilometers. The highway, in addition to the two regions where the final destinations are located, passes through the territory of the Novgorod and Tver provinces.
In Soviet times, the M10 highway received asphalt pavement, which is periodically repaired, but, alas, this is not enough, as it is shown an urgent reconstruction. The authorities promise that by 2018 the situation will change dramatically, although this is not the first time, designated as the date of completion of road modernization.
Nevertheless, work is underway, and there is hope that in the not-so-distant future, travelers will see a new highway, corresponding in level to the title of the federal highway.
M10 - the track of difficulties
If you look at the road map, you can see that it passes along the plain, but despite this, there are several sections along its length with dangerous turns, steep descents and ascents.
Everything would be fine, but when similar, unpleasant sections of the road are supplemented by the terrible quality of the roadway, the absence of overtaking and dividing lanes, conditions are created when you need to move along it very carefully, otherwise it is fraught with serious consequences.
As already described above, historically, the road passes through a large number of settlements. In ancient times, this was a definite plus: the opportunity to find an overnight stay and a hot dinner during a many-day trip. In modern conditions, this creates additional difficulties for motorists who have to lose a lot of time to overcome these areas. Locals around the clock stream of cars, including trucks, also delivers little pleasure.
And, of course, cities and villages along the way create additional difficulties during the design and reconstruction: the road needs to be widened, but it is impossible to do this, as there are residential buildings around, located very close to the highway. Forced construction of detours significantly increases the construction time, its cost is growing.
Sufficiently long sections of the track have three lanes: one in each direction and one for two additional to overtake. The affiliation of the middle row changes quite quickly, sometimes you may not have time to complete a maneuver and already be in the oncoming lane. This is one of the causes of numerous accidents on this route.
All the difficulties described above become critical in conditions of a solid load on the track. On this route, a huge stream of freight and passenger transport moves daily.
Route M10 - reviews
Driving along this highway is not a pleasure for the faint of heart, and inexperienced drivers will be completely uncomfortable to move along it.
When leaving Moscow for St. Petersburg, you need to be prepared for the fact that you can spend several hours traveling outside the city, standing in a traffic jam on the Leningradskoye Shosse in the Moscow Ring Road and further in Khimki. Numerous traffic lights in Solnechnogorsk will also take up a decent amount of time. Therefore, going to the northern capital, you need to leave as early as possible in the morning.
When leaving St. Petersburg, traffic jams, as a rule, are not observed, but you should try to calculate the time so that the entrance to Moscow does not coincide with rush hours, since the situation on the Leningradskoye Highway towards the center of the capital is also quite tense.