Tverskaya Zasada Square

Reconstruction of Bolshaya Leningradka may take longer

The deadline for completing the reconstruction of one of the main transport arteries of the capital has once again been postponed. Alexander Levchenko, head of the Moscow road, bridge and engineering construction department, stated this yesterday in an interview with Interfax. And if earlier the completion date of work on Bolshaya Leningradka was postponed due to certain technical difficulties - for example, during tunnel construction, now the problem is exclusively financial: due to the crisis, the city will have to reduce infrastructure investment programs. Judging by Mr. Levchenko’s words, we will now have to wait for the opportunity to travel without problems along Leningradsky Prospekt to the city center until at least 2012, when it is planned to complete the interchange at Tverskaya Zastava Square.

Let us remind you that this is not the first time the construction completion date has been postponed. Last year, Mayor Yuri Luzhkov agreed that the reconstruction of Bolshaya Leningradka would be completely completed not in 2009, as previously planned, but in 2010. Experts explained the inevitability of the delay by the technical intricacies of the construction of the most complex interchange - a deep tunnel (22 meters) between Alabyan and Baltiyskaya streets in the Sokol metro area.

The current difficulties, as it turns out, are much more serious. As the head of the complex of economic policy and city development, Yuri Roslyak, recently said, funding for road infrastructure in Moscow this year will not exceed 45 billion rubles. This is more than two times less than last year. As Mikhail Moskvin-Tarkhanov, chairman of the commission for long-term development and urban planning of the Moscow City Duma, told Vremya Novostey, investments in the building block do not belong to the so-called protected part of the city budget. And therefore, it is not surprising that it is these expenditure items that will be sequestered first. Although the draft amendments to the 2009 budget have not yet been received from the mayor's office to the Moscow City Duma, according to preliminary estimates by deputies, the treasury will miss at least 26% of planned revenues this year - mainly due to a drop in income tax revenues. Since the city does not intend to cut social spending, the main burden of cuts will fall on infrastructure projects.

City officials do not expect significant changes for the better in 2010 either. According to Mr. Levchenko, next year funds for road construction will remain approximately at the same level as this year. “If our builders are given loans, and then they can roll them over, then I think the budget will be about 50 billion rubles. We want to remain at least at this year’s level, and then, perhaps, we will be able to begin construction of new facilities,” he said.

However, both the Moscow City Duma and the mayor’s office are trying to prevent the discontent of car owners, who fear that for several years they will have to make their way through the huge construction site between Sokol and Airport and maneuver between the fences on Tverskaya Zastava Square. Mikhail Moskvin-Tarkhanov, in particular, believes that no more than a year will be lost, and even then the builders are playing it safe, calling the deadline for the completion of Bolshaya Leningradka. “There are signals that we are passing the crisis, and it is possible that by the fourth quarter we will receive better income,” the deputy hopes.

In addition, as Vremya Novostey was told in the complex of architecture, construction, development and reconstruction of Moscow, savings in the field of road construction will be made exclusively through so-called auxiliary facilities and the reconstruction of “not so important highways.” According to officials, “no one is leaving” the continuation of construction work on sections of Bolshaya Leningradka that are vital for the city. Moreover, road workers have already completed almost half of the total amount of reconstruction work. In particular, this year it was planned to open traffic through the tunnel towards Halabyan Street. “It is not possible to fully implement the project towards Baltic Street this year, because the tunnel will have its continuation. This part of the work will be completed in 2010,” Mr. Levchenko previously stated. And these deadlines remain in force, a source in the mayor’s office assured the Vremya Novostei correspondent. “Freezing major projects is very expensive, it will cost more than to complete construction, so work will not be stopped, but the pace of construction will be slowed down,” said the coordinators of the “Big Leningradka” project, assuring that in this case “there will be no paralysis of movement” .

Yulia KHOMCHENKO