Saint Petersburg Ring Road

The Ring Road on a map of Saint Petersburg.
The Ring Road at the 8-km mark, in the vicinity of Gorskaya and the Gulf of Finland.
Big Obukhovsky Bridge, the only non-bascule bridge over the Neva River among the bridges of Saint Petersburg.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Petersburg Ring Road.

The Saint Petersburg Ring Road (Russian: Кольцева́я автомоби́льная доро́га вокру́г г. Санкт-Петербу́рга, Koltsevaya avtomobilnaya doroga vokrug g. Sankt-Peterburga, abbreviated КАД, KAD) is a 142 km (88 mile) orbital freeway encircling Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the only beltway around the city. The St. Petersburg Ring Road in the Russian road numbering system is listed as the federal public road A-118.[1]

Construction

The need for the construction of a beltway around St. Petersburg was first stated in the 1965 General Development Plan of Leningrad. The western segment of the road was planned to be constructed as a causeway part of a proposed flood-protection dam on the Gulf of Finland. In late 1979, the construction of the dam facilities commenced and by the early 1990s a two-lane road connected the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland with the city of Kronstadt on the Kotlin Island. However, any further development of the dam and the Ring Road project was halted in 1992 due to the lack of financing in the midst of economic turmoil in Russia.

The construction of the Ring Road was resumed in 1998. The first freeway section of the Ring Road connecting the north terminus of the dam, near the Gorskaya train station, with the northern outskirts of St. Petersburg at Vyborgsky District was opened on December 26, 2002. By September 2006, the freeway segments of the Ring Road completed the eastern bypass around St. Petersburg with grade-separated junctions with the E-18/A-181 route in the northern segment, E-105/R-21 route in the eastern segment and E-105/M-10 route in the southern segment of the Ring Road.[2] The completed part of the Ring Road included the cable-stayed Bolshoy Obukhovsky Bridge, the only non-bascule bridge across the main branch of the Neva River.

An interchange junction near the international Pulkovo Airport was opened in November 2007. By this time, the construction of the Ring Road resulted in a significant boost of the land value in the vicinity of the highway path and interchanges.

The south-western and western sections of the Ring Road including the dam facilities and the intersection with the E-20/A-180 route were gradually constructed throughout the late 2000s. The six-lane causeway across the Gulf of Finland comprises bridges, trestles, man-made islands, and a tunnel under the main shipping channel. After more than two decades of construction, the completed Ring Road was officially opened on August 12, 2011 by Prime Minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and Governor of St Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko, who inaugurated the dam facilities.[3][4] The St. Petersburg Ring Road is notoriously noted of the delays and budget overspending during its construction.[5][6]

General data

See also

References

  1. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Постановление Правительства Российской Федерации №928 от 17 ноября 2010 «О перечне автомобильных дорог общего пользования федерального значения». Вступил в силу 7 декабря 2010. Опубликован: Российская Газета, 30 ноября 2010. (Government of Russian Federation. Resolution of the Government of Russian Federation #928 of November 17, 2010 On the list of the federal public roads. Effective as of December 7, 2010.). (Russian)
  2. ↑ Ivanova, Evgenia (September 8, 2006). "Long Awaited Eastern Ring Road Opens". The St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Russia. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Putin attends inauguration of St. Petersburg flood protection dam". RIA Novosti. August 12, 2011. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Titova, Irina (August 15, 2011). "Dam Complex Complete At Last". The St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Russia. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  5. ↑ Kovalyev, Vladimir (October 2, 2001). "Construction of Ring Road Hits Snag". The St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Russia. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  6. ↑ Tyomkin, Anatoly (March 16, 2011). "Auditors: Ring Road Millions Over Budget". The St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Russia. Retrieved October 3, 2011.

Coordinates: 59°58′32″N 30°09′42″E / 59.97556°N 30.16167°E / 59.97556; 30.16167

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