Alexey Kurtov: “Dedicated to Muscovites”

“Dedicated to Muscovites. Some topics in connection with the “reclamation” of urban space, about which for some reason I see nothing in the public space,” writes the president of the Russian Association of Political Consultants on Facebook .

"1. Professionals. Do you know why Turkish workers are valued and work on construction sites all over the world? Because they are excellent professionals. Instead of local labor, we now use the labor of guest workers, and this leads to the fact that a professional stratum of road workers is not formed here. Even Laying tiles requires knowledge, skill and experience. For some reason, it seems to me that one qualified specialist is worth three migrant workers. And the urban planning complex is not saturated with highly professional personnel.

2. Quality. It follows from the first point. Temporary and unskilled workers do not care how long the result of their work lasts. Hand over the property, get the money and leave - that’s their goal. When they leave, we will be back to nothing again. We have already seen the deplorable state of last year's renovations.

3. Money. Follows from the first two points. A huge amount of money is not used to improve the well-being of local workers, not to develop and revitalize the trade and service sector in Moscow and the Moscow region, or to pay taxes to local budgets. They will stupidly be taken out of the region and from Russia.

4. Plans. I observe with my own eyes every day and record in photographs the constant alterations - they will put up curbs, then they will remove them; They’ll either put the tiles in, then they’ll immediately take them off; either they will fill it with concrete, or they will immediately begin to break the freshly laid concrete in the same place; they will either dig up, then bury and immediately dig up the holes again. It seems that there is no single work plan, or it is constantly being modernized. Consistent, thoughtful work would be of higher quality and cheaper, would form its own set of all specialists and would provide work for a huge number of local people for many years. I can’t believe that survey work was carried out on such a large area in advance. That the legislation on the protection of archaeological and cultural monuments, which are regularly uncovered underground during work, is observed.

5. Deadlines. They flow from everything. It is not true that by blocking off the entire center at the same time, everything will be done faster, as the fathers of the city’s urban planning complex assure us. With such a huge volume of work, it is extremely difficult to maintain consistency, rhythm, quality and deadlines. We see this with our own eyes when we drive past empty, without a single person, but torn-up vast spaces behind white and green sails. Most often, five to ten sad diggers lean on their shovels. There is practically no work at night.

6. Time. But this is the most disgusting thing. Has anyone counted how many hours of personal life and work time were stolen from Muscovites and dear guests of the capital? Who compensates businesses and employees for losses associated with the inability to plan their working hours if it involves moving around the city? Moreover, the metro is no longer a panacea. I live in the center. To get to the house, I always have to stand on Sadovoy Street for at least half an hour. I estimate that about an hour of my time is stolen every day. Time is the only irreplaceable resource in our life. Who allowed the reclamation organizers to take it away from us? I look forward to lawsuits on this topic.

7. Recyclable materials. Over the course of three years, three types of sidewalk coverings were laid on Sukharevka. Last year's luxurious and thick paving slabs were now very carefully removed, placed on pallets, carefully wrapped in film and taken away. Something tells me that they are using it again under the guise of a new one in another area of ​​the city. Interesting, isn't it?

8. Curbs, they are also thick and beautiful curbs. Last year, new white granite curbs were laid throughout Sadovoe. Today they have been removed and white, but double-thick borders named after Pharaoh Cheops are being installed.

9. Silence of the legislature. I don’t hear the Moscow City Council deputies talking about this road reclamation at all. That's right from the word. And who, if not they, should approve the financing of such megaprojects, approve plans, coordinate them with voters, etc. Where did this money come from and was it budgeted for this year? Deputies, where are you, oh? Are you sure that such a lot of money needs to be buried in the ground? Have you been to city clinics or hospitals lately? Have you seen the state of the city infrastructure, rusty pipes, storm drains, etc.?

10. The purpose of this is the reclamation of urban space. Who knows? Where can I see what will be done in the end? Who will tell us why and for what purposes these cyclopean works are being carried out. Who asked the residents what they needed to live happily in this city? Do they want to live on mausoleum-like streets?

11. Narrow road. I see how instead of seven lanes in one direction, three lanes are left on Sukharevskaya. Already a couple of times, a car that had stopped working with problems formed a gigantic traffic jam in an already almost dead traffic jam. I think with horror that suddenly a simple accident will happen there. A simple stop for boarding and disembarking passengers will disrupt the rhythm of this entire endless stream. And if you need to seat your child, put your luggage. I don't understand. In the city, cars cannot drive evenly and at the same speed - this is not an autobahn.

12. Business. Have you also noticed how in two years many stores on the Garden Ring have closed because parking spaces were completely removed? Even where the width of the sidewalk and roadway had a triple margin. Bakhetle and Azbuki Vkusa are convenience stores for people who work a lot and travel by car. Why go to the outskirts to the super mall if everything was close, convenient and at any time. And the mileage of cars would be less. Why don't the owners of these stores sue the mayor's office? After all, when they were calculating the business model, they probably studied the number of possible buyers depending on the convenience of access, parking and time. And someone took it and ruined them... And of course, the conversation is not only about Sadovoy - the whole center is like this.

13. Reasons. World Cup? Presidential elections? Mayoral election? There must be reasons? Is it really greed that comes first?"