Four city highways will be expanded simultaneously

Next week, the Omsk authorities promise to begin the reconstruction of four city highways at once, the total estimated cost of road construction will be 1 billion rubles. During the work, the mayor's office is going to urge Omsk residents to stop traveling in private cars. Experts fear that if the issue of alternate streets is not worked out in detail, then traffic in the city will be completely paralyzed by the end of October. Reconstruction of the main Omsk highways - Krasny Put, Hertsena, 10 Let Oktyabrya and 70 Let Oktyabrya streets - will begin immediately after the City Day celebration, which will take place on Sunday, August 5. This was stated by the mayor of Omsk Viktor Schrader. According to the mayor, the agreement with the Federal Road Construction Agency provides for the allocation of 1 billion rubles for the repair and expansion of Omsk highways. The main front of the work will unfold on the street. Red Path. “The expansion in the area of the metro bridge will be on the left side, as you drive from the center,” Mr. Schrader clarified. Work on all highways, with the exception of st. Herzen, will be conducted with traffic blocking. Dublerami st. 10 years of October will be Lermontov and Omskaya streets, st. Red Path - known only to experienced motorists. Average.
According to the city department of architecture and urban planning, today there are 280 cars per 1 thousand Omsk residents. Length of the street Red Path - the main highway of Omsk - 5.2 km. The width of the roadway ensures a throughput capacity of 1.5 thousand vehicles per hour in one direction. Widening the roadway and reducing the number of traffic lights from 10 to five will allow for a doubling of traffic capacity. Works to expand the street. The Red Path will be led by the Omsk NGO Mostovik. “We are entering the facility on August 6th. Now preparatory work is underway - there will be serious difficulties with the removal of communications and almost roadside poles,” noted the company’s general director Oleg Shishov. According to him, the issue of blocking traffic on the main highway is still being discussed. “We will try to mitigate the inevitable problems as much as possible; some of the work will be carried out at night. Much depends on the efficiency of the backup roads,” Mr. Shishov emphasized.
The modernization of 10 Let Oktyabrya, 70 Let Oktyabrya and Herzen streets was entrusted to MUP DRSU-2. According to the general director of the municipal unitary enterprise Yakov Vagner, it will not be easy to complete the repairs before the onset of cold weather: “At the most, we can work until the end of October, so everything needs to be accelerated and worked around the clock. But while there is no funding, it is impossible to do this - all suppliers of materials work only on prepayment. And even with prepayment, it’s very difficult to get the same crushed stone.” He admitted that the simultaneous reconstruction of four highways would lead to significant inconvenience. “At a meeting at the mayor’s office, they even suggested asking Omsk residents to stop using personal vehicles during repairs,” said Mr. Wagner.
The delay in financing the road construction program also worries deputies of the Omsk City Council. “We have been waiting for this federal billion for a long time. The money should have appeared at the beginning of the construction season, but the correspondence is delayed. I really hope that the funds will arrive in the coming weeks - there is practically no time,” said Alexander Tarasov, chairman of the committee on housing and communal services, transport and construction.
According to Mr. Tarasov, the sacrifices that Omsk residents will have to make are justified. Experts, however, fear that the cure may be worse than the disease itself. "St. The middle one as a backup will not save the position, even if it is expanded. It is necessary to open all streets and alleys - Volochaevskaya, Dobrovolskogo, possibly Tukhachevsky embankment. Otherwise, the city will become one continuous traffic jam,” noted Eduard Safronov, a professor at the Siberian Automobile and Highway Academy. In his assessment, “the work should have started without waiting for federal money and attracted loans, as they did in Kurgan.” The professor considers the idea of transferring motorists to public transport reasonable. “Another thing is that the authorities must carry out serious preparatory work: introduce new routes, add buses and completely ban Gazelles on these sections,” Eduard Safronov is sure.
Anton Medvedev, Omsk

Kommersant (Novosibirsk) No. 137 dated 08/03/2007, p. 12

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