Nikolai Merkushkin showed Dmitry Azarov how not to repair roads

The head of the region, Nikolai Merkushkin, called the technologies used to repair roads in the regional center outdated. According to him, such technologies were used 15 years ago, and roads repaired in this way will again fall into disrepair after winter. The Samara administration explained in response that the pothole repair that the governor spoke about is a necessary measure, “until the weather allowed for repairs to be carried out according to technology.” According to Samara Gubernia Duma deputy Sergei Rakitin, in this situation the governor behaved not like a manager, but like an “auditor appointed from above.”

Nikolai Merkushkin is dissatisfied with the fact that Samara roads are being repaired using outdated technologies
Photo: Alexander Vainshtein, Kommersant / buy photo

Governor of the Samara region Nikolai Merkushkin, live on one of the regional TV channels, criticized the technologies used in road repairs in Samara. “Today, before leaving for the broadcast, I spoke with the mayor of Samara Dmitry Azarov, sent him several photographs, including from places where road repairs are underway. I looked at the repair technology - this is how they did it 15-17 years ago. This road will definitely float with melted snow next spring,” said the head of the region.

In addition, he noted that back in the 90s Samara compared to other Volga cities differed for the better. But in the last 10 years, according to the governor, on the contrary, other cities in the Volga Federal District have caught up. “In our country, even a slight breeze leaves you with sand on your teeth,” the governor noted.

As explained in the press service of the head of the region, speaking about roads on which repair work is carried out using outdated technologies, Nikolai Merkushkin, among other things, called Chapaevskaya Street and the “so-called card repairs” carried out on it.

Let us remind you that at the end of last week, the Minister of Transport and Highways of the Samara Region, Ivan Pivkin, made a detour of Samara roads, repaired in 2013 with subsidies from the regional road fund. As the press service of the regional government reported, Mr. Pivkin inspected, in particular, Gagarin, Pobeda and Olimpiyskaya streets. The minister recognized only the condition of the first of them as satisfactory; the other two, in Mr. Pivkin’s opinion, were repaired “of poor quality.”

Let us remind you that Gagarin Street in the area from Tukhachevsky Street to Pobeda Street was repaired last summer by NPF XXI Century LLC. The renovation of Pobeda Street in the area from Gagarin Street to Elizarova Street was carried out by Stroyservis LLC. Olimpiyskaya Street in the section from Alma-Ata Street to Rakitovskoe Highway was repaired by Spetsstroytekhnika LLC.

From time to time, based on the results of inspections, representatives of the prosecutor's office of various districts of Samara report the poor condition of the road surface, demanding that the roads be brought into compliance with current standards.

Dmitry Azarov did not publicly respond to the governor’s criticism. The head of the Samara Information and Analytics Department, Natalya Khlopunova, explained to Kommersant that the head of the region most likely spoke about carrying out pothole and emergency repairs. “Such repairs are a forced measure until the weather allows us to carry out repairs according to the technology,” noted Ms. Khlopunova. Also, the press service of the mayor’s office reported that, as of January 1, 2011, about 90% of the road surface was in non-standard condition due to constant “underrepair”. “By 2013, this figure was reduced to 70%, which is confirmed by official data from experts and noted in all official analytical materials,” the administration emphasized. The department of information and analysts also added that, according to experts, at least 17.8 billion rubles are needed to bring the city’s road network to standard condition. In 2013, 1.4 billion rubles were allocated for road repairs in Samara.

According to the chairman of the Samara regional branch of the public movement “Committee for the Protection of Motorists’ Rights” Sergei Slyusarev, to solve the problem it is necessary to completely change the entire warranty scheme prescribed in municipal contracts. “If after repairs there are holes or potholes on the road, then let the contractor, at his own expense, resurface at least one kilometer of the road or even the entire road. Now companies are getting away with “patches” for pennies, and in the end, five years later, we get a completely broken road. Of course, not all contractors will agree to such conditions; for some it is beneficial to put part of the money in their pocket. But in the end, I’m sure, a company will be found that will repair the roads so that within five years they will not need updating,” explains Mr. Slyusarev.

Co-founder of the interregional public organization "City and Transport" Anton Buslov explained to Kommersant that the technologies for patching and repairing with maps are not outdated and are widely used at present, including in the USA, not to mention the cities of Russia. “Another question is that these are not major repair technologies, that is, they do not replace the base of the road, the crushed stone cushion, and many other things that cost a huge amount of money. So the probability of such a road “floating” in a year is very high, but this is not the fault of the choice of technology, but the lack of money for major repairs,” Mr. Buslov is convinced.

Member of the Committee on Construction and Transport of the Samara Provincial Duma Sergei Rakitin agrees that the roads in the regional center are in unsatisfactory condition. “In my opinion, it would be better to have one road repaired every year, but with really high quality, than several - with patches that will fall apart after a very short time,” the deputy believes. In the current situation, Mr. Rakitin does not understand the governor’s position: “Here he acts as a critic, not a manager, he behaves like an auditor appointed from above.”

Ekaterina Borisenkova, Ekaterina Vyushkova

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