This is Vesti. We're continuing.
Governor of Novosibirsk Oblast Travnikov inspected road repairs today in Novosibirsk, Berdsk, and Iskitim. He promised to react harshly even for single defects. Acting Governor of St. Petersburg Beglov opened the Ust-Izhora highway to traffic. Tyumen Oblast is allocating over 2.5 billion for the reconstruction of the road between Salekhard and Surgut. This happened after the meeting of the State Council in the Kremlin which was held on the eve and dedicated to highways. Less than half of the roads in Russia are first-class roads. And this is about federal roads. Regional and locals ones often turn into mere directions, with no lighting and speed cameras lying in ambush.
Salima Zarif has the details.
“They drive and come across the same camera. Are you sane?”
They break, turn upside down, and steal them. Some attack them with bats or pistols. Traffic enforcement cameras are often installed with violations. They can be hidden in a bush without any cautions. So, the goal isn't to make drivers more disciplined but to collect as many fines as possible.
"This is a highway from Ryazan. There are many speed radars. Now, we'll try to spoil a whole day for one of them. It can stand here, waiting for bribes".
Such cameras are owned by private firms, which fulfill a region's order. They send the information to the General Administration for Traffic Safety, and the income from fines goes to the local budget. But private firms have a share in it. It's clear that for them, the more violators, the better.
"It's hidden behind a bush".
Putin calls to put an end to that practice. Cameras should be used to increase safety, not income.
Sergey Kanaev, Head of the Federation of Car Owners of Russia: “They began to install them not only on dangerous parts but on the parts, where they say that they can make money. Nobody hides it.”
Fewer road traffic deaths are the main goal. They plan to decrease them by 3.5 times by 2024, and to zero by 2030.
Lighting is one of the important parameters of safety. This is the exit road from Yekaterinburg to Perm. It's dark just 12 miles away from the city and there's a high accident rate. This year alone, there have been 80 accidents and 30 deaths.
"They could put luminescent markings, which produce light in the dark, here. They don't wash beam deflectors, they're always dirty".
The share of good regional roads is less than 50%.
Tatiana Yakusheva: “I saw my granddaughter off today. She was crying because she was scared to drive along that road.”
The road to the village of Slavyanka in Leningrad Oblast is a real roller-coaster.
- Oh, God!
- What did you expect? It's soft. You sink in it because of this sand.
The road is damaged by the trucks engaged in the reconstruction of railroads. RZD apologized and promised to complete the work by September and restore the road to its previous state. But until that time, 19 villages seem to remain in the captivity of sand storms.
“We've been building this road since 1989 on our own. We chipped in on this road. And look at what they turned this road into.”
And there are many such soft spots all over the country. The questions about roads are one of the most frequent during the Direct Line with the President. Later, at the meeting of the State Council, Putin made it clear to the governors that they should personally go to people who need help.
"We can see this structure. It's compact, fully framed. It's resistant to practically any load".
They study the quality of road pavement here. Safe and quality roads are a national project that provides for the creation of the register of the best road construction materials. The approach to road-building will also be changed. The rules of construction are being completely changed. Now, those who build the road will do the maintenance works. So-called life-cycle contracts will be executed with contractors. If a company decides to save on equipment, materials, or workers, it'll have to pay for the repairs, in any case. As a result, it'll become simply unprofitable to build low-quality roads in Russia.
Salima Zarif, Kirill Bortnikov, Alexey Sasyrin, Dmitry Lukashevich, Galina Orlova, Elena Galeeva, and Elizaveta Beryozkina for Vesti.
