After about 14 years of construction work, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most important infrastructure projects – a 670-kilometer road between Moscow and St. Petersburg – is now open.
Putin inaugurated the final section of the highway – a bypass around the provincial city of Tver – at the wheel of a Russian-made Lada Aura.
The last section to be built includes a 738-metre-long bridge spanning the upper Volga River.
Plans to ease the burden on the old road connecting major Russian cities go back a long way. The road passed through many villages and was only partially converted into a motorway. Putin ordered the construction of the new highway in 2004, and construction of the first section began in 2010.
But it’s not free.
Motorists will have to pay tolls almost everywhere on the new M-11 highway. The most expensive section is the one from Moscow to Sheremetyevo airport and beyond, which costs 795 rubles ($9).
Depending on the day and fare, the entire journey can cost more than 3,000 rubles.
During his visit to Tver, Putin also opened a second major new road, as reported by the state news agency TASS: the Togliatti city bypass highway with a 3.7-kilometer bridge over the lower Volga River.
