Expressway ... How often is this phrase! We all roughly understand what it is, but often we don’t know what expressways there are, with what speed it is allowed to ride on them, and how many autobahns are in Russia. Let's look at the history of motorways, their present and future.
Appearance story
The first expressway appeared at the beginning of the last century in Italy. In 1924, it connected two large cities - Milan and Varese. The length of the road was 85 km. Interestingly, the word "freeway" used by many came from Italy. By the beginning of the 21st century, over 6,000 kilometers of express roads were built in the country.
Another well-known name of the road - "autobahn" - appeared in Germany. In 1932, the main road connected Cologne and Bonn, its length was only 20 km. Interesting fact: in Germany, more than 3,500 kilometers of express roads were built before 1941. To date, the country has more than 13,000 kilometers of roadbed.
Today, the highway is the most used type of road in the world. The leading place in the construction of such routes is China. By the beginning of 2015, their length was almost 112,000 km.
In Russia, the construction of highways dates back to the times of the USSR. Unfortunately, it is not possible to calculate the number of motorways built. Basically, the expressway in Russia is separate sections of paved roads.
Driving conditions
What track is considered high-speed in Russia? A motorway is a road with a specific road sign, which has several lanes for traffic in both directions, separated by a special fence or dividing strip. This road has no intersections with others at the same level (any intersections are possible only on a bridge or underpass).
Pedestrians, animals, and any means of transport whose speed does not exceed 40 km / h are prohibited on the expressway. These include bicycles, mopeds, tractors and any other self-propelled vehicles. It is also unacceptable to stop public transport, and for cars and trucks it is forbidden to stop in places not intended for parking.
It is forbidden to make a U-turn and drive into the breaks of the dividing strip, reverse movement and driving are not allowed. So, driving onto the autobahn, be careful not to break the rules.
Highways of the Russian Federation
The main routes in Russia begin in Moscow. This suggests that most roads were built during the time of the Russian Empire and converted to modern requirements. The density of their network in the European part of the country is the highest. The main roads diverge from Moscow. The farther north, the less developed the network of highways. In the Far Eastern and Siberian Federal Districts, many roads are not connected to major freeways. With certain cities, communication is possible only in the summer, and even then by air.
Highways of Russia have a total length of 1,396,000 km, and with hard surface - 984,000 km. In accordance with the law on the classification of roads, they have various categories and are the property of not only the state, but can also be in the office of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as private individuals. These include routes of federal, regional and municipal, local significance. Private roads also exist.
Federal highways
Highways of federal significance have a hard track and can be fast. Their list is approved by the Government of Russia, they are state property. Such roads have a certain numbering with a letter standing in front. Which of them are federal?
Firstly, these are all the roads connecting the capital of Russia - Moscow - with the capitals of neighboring countries, as well as with the administrative centers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Such tracks have the prefix "M", they include:
- M1 “Belarus” - “Minsk highway” - connecting Moscow and Belarus bordering Russia.
- M2 "Crimea" - which combined the European highway E105 with Moscow, Tula and Kharkov.
- M5 “Ural” - having the longest length of 1879 km and connecting Moscow with Chelyabinsk.
Secondly, these are roads connecting separate administrative centers. They have the prefix "P":
- 22 “Caspian Sea” is one of the longest regional roads with a length of 1381 km. It is part of the European route E119, which passes through Moscow, Tambov, Volgograd and Astrakhan.
- P504 “Kolyma” - the length is more than 2000 km. It is a key highway of the Far East. Passes from Yakutsk to Magadan.
Thirdly, access and connecting routes that can connect cities with sea or river ports, airports or railway stations, as well as with other transport hubs. All of them are indicated by the prefix "A".
From January 1, 2018, a new list of federal roads of Russia will enter into force. There will be no division of routes into trunk and others. Changes also affected the numbering and names of roads. In the near future, speed on the highway will be at least 130 km / h.
The road "Moscow - Noginsk"
The distance from Moscow to Noginsk is only 58 km. Today this way passes along the M7 “Volga” highway, stretching from Moscow through Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, and ending in Ufa. The road is of federal importance. She can’t boast of high bandwidth, now from 3 to 7 thousand cars per day can pass through it. Because of this, traffic jams and congestion often occur at the entrance to Moscow.
In view of the increasing movement, the government decided to put into operation a new Moscow-Noginsk expressway. This road will become an alternative to the M7 and will be paid.
Paid highways have become very popular in developed countries, now the turn has come to Russia. The project began to be implemented in 2014, the final commissioning is planned in 2017. It is this road that will help relieve the main highways and allow residents of Noginsk to reach the capital in 20-30 minutes. This will be a great help for people working in Moscow.
The Moscow -Noginsk toll road will have a throughput of 30,000 vehicles per day. With up to 6 lanes in one direction and a speed of 120 km / h, the highway will help minimize travel time and maximize comfortable conditions for drivers. The fare on such a highway is still unknown - either it will be fixed, or it will depend on the mileage. Currently, due to low funding, the expressway has only been partially built.
The route "Moscow - St. Petersburg"
At the moment, St. Petersburg and Moscow are connected by the federal highway M10 E105 "Russia", commissioned in the 19th century. The union of the two capitals was planned by Peter I and carried out his project, which became the understudy of the water communication system. Today, the length of the road is 706 km. Due to the low throughput and low speed along this route, traffic jams often occur. Up to 130-170 thousand cars pass along the highway per day, and the speed of movement at the entrance to Moscow is up to 10 km / h. In view of this, a project appeared several years ago for the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg M11 expressway.
The Moscow-St. Petersburg road will be partially paid. Its length will be 684 km, and it will actually replace the existing M10 highway. It is planned to commission the highway in 2018. To date, several sections have been built: from 15 to 58 km from Moscow to Solnechnogorsk and from 258 to 334 km - bypassing the Vyshny Volochyok in the Tver Region.
When creating the canvas of the expressway will have to take into account climatic conditions. The four regions along which the route runs have a different climate: Moscow and Tverskaya differ in moderate continental, and Novgorod and Leningrad - in transitional continental-marine. All sudden changes in temperature can adversely affect the roadway and as a result result in wasted resources. Therefore, it is necessary to approach the choice of flooring very seriously. The future of the track itself directly depends on this.
The Moscow-St. Petersburg highway will have from 2 to 5 lanes in each direction and a speed of 150 km / h. This will significantly reduce the travel time between cities and improve the conditions for drivers. Estimated fare on this highway will be about 1200 rubles. Everything will depend on the time of day and a specific section of the route. Thus, the Moscow - St. Petersburg road will become the second toll motorway in Russia. It must be clarified that approximately 60% of the road under construction will be paid, while the current free M10 highway can also be used.
"Moscow - Beijing" - a look into the future
The dream of connecting West and East has always been alive in the hearts of enterprising people. Today, the construction of the expressway connecting Moscow and Beijing has become possible. In 2014, a memorandum was signed between Russia and China on the construction of the Moscow-Beijing high-speed highway.
Today, the train connecting the two countries is 130 hours on the road, which is 6 days. When implementing the project, it will be possible to get from Beijing to Moscow in two days, overcoming a distance of 7 thousand kilometers at a speed of 350 km / h. Cooperation with the Chinese Railway will bring a stable development of the economy of both China and Russia, and will also serve as a good connection between Europe and Asia.
In addition, the Moscow-Beijing road will contribute to the development of the Urals Federal District. It will connect stations in the following cities: Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, and then Astana (Kazakhstan), Urumqi and Beijing. The main and paramount task is to connect the Moscow and Kazan expressways. To do this, China will provide its technology and invest $ 10 billion. It is planned to complete the project by 2030.
"Moscow - Kazan" - new speeds
The Moscow-Kazan expressway will make it possible to reduce the time spent on the road to 3.5 hours. Its further extension to Yekaterinburg will cover a distance of 1595 km in 8 hours. It is planned to move up to 400 km / h along the route of high-speed trains. Accelerated regional trains will follow up to 200 km at a speed of 200 km / h.
On the highway, it is planned to use accelerated night long-distance trains, as well as freight and container transportation. Speed ​​indicators will be 160 km / h. It is planned to complete the Moscow-Kazan railway line in 2018. What will its construction give? First of all, it will provide jobs for the population. Experts say that building a road in the Urals will help revitalize the entire industrial complex. One kilometer of railroad tracks will require about 16 thousand cubic meters of good gravel, about 15 thousand tons of reinforced concrete structures of very high quality, 125 tons of metal structures and 25 tons of railroad tracks. The purchase of these materials from abroad will require a considerable amount of money, which will increase the cost of the project, which means that it is necessary to improve production technologies and increase their quality on the spot. Local enterprises can cope with this task and provide the population with work for many years.
"Moscow - Don"
The Moscow-Don M4 federal highway, so named at the end of the last century, was built in 1967. At that time, the route ran from the capital through Voronezh to Rostov-on-Don and had two lanes 7 meters wide. In early 1991, the route was extended by 500 km, and Novorossiysk became its final destination. So, due to the joining of different sections, the modern M4 Don road appeared. It is interesting that it became the first highway with a toll section of the track that went around the village of Khlevnoye and had a length of 20 km.
Today the Moscow-Don highway is the best in Russia. Its only drawback is that in the summer it is crowded with cars in one direction as well as in another. Many from Moscow and the suburbs travel with families on vacation to the sea. The route leads to the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, the Rostov Region and the Crimea. Back at the same time, a lot of vegetables and fruits were being transported from the southern regions of Russia to Moscow, St. Petersburg and the northern regions of the country.
During the winter period of time, in certain sections of the road, especially in the Krasnodar Territory, where the route passes through the mountains,
snow drifts and heavy ice are possible. Bad weather can block traffic on the expressway for several days. So, the elements in 2009 stopped the movement of all vehicles on the unrepaired section of the road in the Rostov Region for several days.
Another problem is the frequent traffic jams at checkpoints in the Moscow Region, since it takes some time to pay for toll areas.
There are many toll sections on the highway, and this gives a huge advantage over free roads. Firstly, the speed mode of the M4 highway in some sections is 130 km / h, and for the most part - 110 km / h. Secondly, at such a speed, an excellent roadbed is required almost over the entire length of the road, and there is one. Thirdly, a service for drivers was introduced on paid sites - emergency assistance. An excellent idea is video communication with the SOS inscription every 1.5 km. If there is a breakdown or run out of gas, just get to the yellow box, and they will help you in the near future.
High-speed railways
Highways with their history go back to the last century. Even during the Soviet Union, there were plans to create high-speed trains, for example, a car - a prototype of a jet train. His tests took place in the 1970s. Next, a special high-speed road project was developed, which was supposed to connect Moscow with Kharkov and Lozova with branches to Simferopol and Rostov-on-Don. The speed on this road was to be 250 km / h.
Unfortunately, the collapse of the Soviet Union led to an economic crisis, and all plans remained in the distant past. The development of the high-speed Sokol-250 train led to its testing in 2000, but because of the shortcomings found by the commission, it was never put into operation. In addition, the costs of creating its own high-speed rolling stock exceeded the permissible limits, and it was cheaper to purchase the trains that had already been tested in Europe.
In 2006, an agreement was signed between Russian Railways and the German company Siemens to supply 8 high-speed trains capable of speeds up to 330 km / h. The first train was delivered in 2008 and went on a flight on the route Moscow - St. Petersburg. The Moscow-Petersburg highway received reliable trains that cover the distance between these cities in 3 hours and 45 minutes.
The next high-speed train appeared on the route "Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod". Travel time was 3 hours 55 minutes. This route has been open to passengers since mid-2010. By the end of 2010, the high-speed international message "St. Petersburg - Helsinki" became available.
Highways of the capital
Moscow, like any metropolis, is flooded with vehicles. Most residents of distant places go to work or to the city for shopping or entertainment on personal vehicles. But, unfortunately, the infrastructure does not allow to constantly expand the roads. To solve this problem, Moscow decided to build expressways. Until the beginning of the 21st century, the concept of "express roads," and especially within the metropolis, did not exist at all. The development of new projects will allow unloading 60% of the central streets of the city from transport.
One of the requirements: Moscow highways must pass far from the housing estate and have a high speed of movement. To solve these problems, it was decided to minimize the number of exits from the highway, and not one of them leads to any shopping center. It was such a move that allowed to increase the speed of movement along the highway to 100 km / h.
To date, it is known about the project of three such highways: North-East, South and North-West. All roads will have a connection with the Moscow Ring Road and will be interconnected. These highways (or chords), according to the plan of the authorities, should replace the Fourth Ring Road. For these purposes, it is planned to connect the North-West and North-East rings in the area of ​​Festivalnaya Street, and the South Chord will cross the North-West in the area of ​​Krylatsky. Thanks to this connection, drivers will be able to get from one end of the city to the other without entering the center.
Around the world, transport problems of large cities are solved at the expense of highways. Highways go around, on the outskirts of the city, and allow using the raised bridge interchanges to leave the center of the metropolis free from unnecessary transport. According to the project in Moscow, it is planned that the chords should not interfere, while serving public transport. This means that for the intersection of residential areas, these roads must either be raised above the main part of the highway, or pass underground.
High-speed mode on the highway also does not yet have final numbers. Experts did not reach consensus on this. What speed is permissible on a highway in the city? Some say that it’s not more than 80 km / h, while others say that if you increase safety, you can increase the speed to 100 km / h. Now, as you know, such standards have been adopted by city: speed cannot exceed 60 km / h.
In Russia today, many projects have been launched to build highways - both autobahns and railways. This indicates the development of the economy and will contribute to the well-being of the state as a whole.