Luzhkov is hastening the end

Reconstruction of the first of the Leningradka tunnels will be completed in the summer of 2008

During the pre-election period, the Moscow authorities seem to have decided to speed up one of their large-scale projects, the implementation of which has so far only drawn criticism from the motorized electorate. The large-scale reconstruction of the so-called Bolshaya Leningradka, according to the initial plans of city builders, was supposed to be completed no earlier than 2009, but last Saturday Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov made it clear that most of the complex sections of the reconstruction of the Leningrad direction highway will be completed by the end of summer next year. True, at the same time, the mayor noted that in any case, the result of the reconstruction, which should relieve the busy highway, will be ineffective without the intervention of officials from the Moscow region and the Ministry of Transport of Russia in further construction.

“If the Moscow region and the Ministry of Transport do not immediately begin the construction of the Leningradskoe highway from the Moscow Ring Road to Sheremetyevo, then the result of our work will be much less than it could be,” said Mr. Luzhkov while inspecting the progress of construction of the transport interchange at the Leningradskoe intersection and Volokolamsk highway near the Sokol metro station. It is this section of the road that has turned into a complete traffic jam, where 30% of the work has already been completed, that the Moscow authorities promise to be the first to complete. As previously stated by the first deputy mayor, head of the capital's construction complex, Vladimir Resin, at the end of 2007 a renewed tunnel will be opened (all load-bearing structures will be replaced, walls will be strengthened and traffic lanes will be expanded in each direction), connecting Leningradsky Prospekt with Leningradskoye Shosse.

Immediately after the completion of this stage of the reconstruction of Bolshaya Leningradka, construction will begin at a depth of 14 meters of a tunnel connecting Volokolamskoe Highway with Leningradsky Prospekt. This interchange will pass under pedestrian crossings and exits from the Sokol metro station. The new tunnel has three lanes in each direction.

According to the Moscow Department of Economic Policy and Development, city investments in road and bridge construction in 2008 will increase by 36% compared to 2007 and amount to 88.5 billion rubles. And they are expected to focus on completing the construction and reconstruction of the projects that have been started, such as Zvenigorodsky Prospekt, Leningradskoye, Dmitrovskoye and Varshavskoye highways, the Veshnyaki-Lyubertsy highway, the Krestovsky overpass, and two transport interchanges in Mitino.

The Moscow authorities hope to completely complete the resuscitation of the Leningradskoye Highway according to previously outlined plans. “We want to completely complete everything on Leningradka in 2009,” Yuri Luzhkov said on Saturday. The third and final stage of the torment of Moscow motorists should be the construction of a tunnel, conventionally called Baltic (which will connect Alabyan and Baltiyskaya streets). It will pass at a depth of 22 meters - already under the metro lines, Leningradsky and Volokolamsky tunnels. Looking ahead, the mayor noted that the construction of this particular in-depth facility is “one of the problematic issues that the capital’s authorities will have to resolve in the near future.” However, it seems that road workers still have to stay within the previously planned construction schedule for the first two stages of Bolshaya Leningradka. Builders are already complaining about the increased traffic flow with the end of the holiday season, which is interfering with work.

Yulia KHOMCHENKO