Today, at the Russian University of Transport, under the leadership of the head of Rosavtodor Roman Novikov, the first meeting of the Board of the Federal Road Agency in 2023 was held, at which the results of the department’s activities for 2022 were summed up and the most pressing industry issues were discussed. Also, the audience was presented with a draft Public Declaration of key goals and priority tasks of Rosavtodor for the current year.
The event was attended by Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Vitaly Savelyev, First Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Andrey Kostyuk, Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Transport and Development of Transport Infrastructure Evgeny Moskvichev and his Deputy Ruslan Lechkhadzhiev, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on property, land and property relations Sergey Ten, member of the Committee of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on economic policy Dmitry Vorona, auditor of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation Valery Bogomolov, chairman of the board of Avtodor State Corporation Vyacheslav Petushenko, as well as heads of the central office of the Federal Road agency and its subordinate institutions (FKU).
Opening the meeting, Igor Levitin thanked all the relevant departments and organizations for their successful work in 2022 via video conference: “The pandemic, sanctions pressure, disruption of supply chains – despite this, you have completed all the tasks that were set for you by the leadership countries. It is very important that work has been actively carried out and continues to be carried out to increase the capacity of federal highways by expanding the roadway. Last year, more than 320 km were expanded to four lanes. A lot of work is being done in the framework of road safety. It is possible to eliminate dangerous areas of concentration of road accidents with serious consequences. The country’s leadership expects that in this difficult year 2023, the road workers will fulfill all the tasks that concern every inhabitant of our country. I wish you successful and productive work.”
Vitaly Savelyev noted the high level of support for the department and the entire road transport complex from the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Government of the Russian Federation. “A vivid example of our joint work is the creation of road funds, largely thanks to which the road sector is developing. Last year, the federal road fund amounted to a record 1.5 trillion rubles. As a result of the use of these funds, almost 27 thousand km of roads were repaired and 1.6 thousand km were built and reconstructed. The road complex today, of course, is on the rise. In accordance with state programs, federal and regional roads are being updated. Modern technologies are being introduced that increase the service life of the tracks and the efficiency of road construction. Today, more than 30 state institutions subordinate to Rosavtodor take part in the meeting of the Collegium. And it is the federal structures that are an example and a guide for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, so I ask the heads of the FKU to keep the bar high and provide all kinds of support to the regional authorities,” the Minister of Transport summed up.
Andrey Kostyuk, in his address to the meeting participants, emphasized the importance of resolving the personnel issue. According to him, it is necessary to support as much as possible the initiative of young people who plan to enter transport universities this year. On the agenda is the involvement of residents of new regions in the educational process, as well as the creation of a single standard for specialized educational programs.
Roman Novikov made the keynote speech at the event. He spoke in detail about the work of Rosavtodor last year.
So, in 2022, appropriations in the total amount of 1,063.8 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget, which is 30.4% more than in 2021. Cash expenses amounted to 1,062.8 billion rubles, or 99.9% of the allocated budget allocations. Unused funds of the Federal Road Fund in 2022 are directed to similar purposes this year.
In the past road construction season, 21 facilities with a total length of 231.9 km were put into operation on the federal network as part of the construction and reconstruction. Significant projects include the Anapa bypass in the Krasnodar Territory, the Gorkovsky microdistrict in the Volgograd Region, as well as stages I and II of the Saratov bypass. In addition, on the territory of the Moscow transport hub, the construction of a transport interchange at different levels in Mytishchi on the M-8 Kholmogory highway was completed, and on the territory of the St. Petersburg transport hub, the reconstruction of a section of the A-180 Narva highway in the Leningrad Region was completed .
At the same time, in the course of road maintenance work on federal highways in 2022, sections with a length of 5.9 thousand km were commissioned after repair, of which 1.3 thousand km were overhauled.
With regard to measures to improve traffic safety, for this purpose, 904 km of axial fencing were arranged, 404 traffic lights were installed, 45 pedestrian crossings at different levels and 1,059 km of artificial electric lighting lines were built.
As a result, the total number of accidents on federal highways last year decreased by 7.2%, fatalities – by 8.2%, injured – by 5.6%.
A large set of works was also carried out within the framework of the national project “Safe High-Quality Roads”. In 2022, road works were carried out at more than 6.6 thousand objects. Works were completed on 5.9 thousand facilities with a length of more than 16.8 thousand km.
During the implementation of the federal project “Promoting the development of highways of regional, intermunicipal and local significance” in 2022, 6,463 km of roads were put into operation. And under the program “Integrated Development of Rural Territories”, 243.1 km were modernized on the territory of 38 regions.
The largest completed projects of the past year, which received co-financing in the form of transfers from the federal budget, were the Northern bypass of Kaluga, the section of the 3rd stage of the Maikop bypass, the bridge over the Sheksna River in Cherepovets, the 3rd section of the Yekaterinburg bypass, and the 1st stage of the Northern bypass of Lobnya , bridge crossing over the river Milguveem on the road Kolyma – Omsukchan – Omolon – Anadyr.
“According to the Public Declaration of Key Goals and Priorities of the Federal Highway Agency, in 2023 it is planned to complete the construction and reconstruction of sections of federal highways with a total length of 225.8 km, as well as the construction of electric lighting lines 500 km long. At the same time, electric lighting will be installed not only during construction, but also as part of a major overhaul. In addition, this year it is planned to implement projects for the overhaul, repair and maintenance of sections of federal highways with a total length of 3,178 km. As a result of solving all the declared tasks, the length of subordinate roads that meet the regulatory requirements for transport and operational indicators should be 44,722 km, ”the head of the Federal Road Agency indicated.
Igor Starygin, Chairman of the Public Council under the Federal Highway Agency, also made an expert report. He outlined a number of risks that need to be addressed at the federal level in 2023. Among the main ones, premature wear of the upper layers of the pavement due to the impact of studded rubber, as well as the destruction of pavement structures and artificial structures by vehicles in excess of standard loads were mentioned. According to Igor Starygin, back in 2015, the annual damage caused by heavy vehicles was calculated – this amount is equivalent to the volume of repair of more than 170 thousand km of roads.
Dmitry Vorona also expressed concern about this situation. In his opinion, the most acute issues are the increase in the number of stationary and mobile control points and the number of employees of supervisory authorities involved. The solution to the problem should also be tougher penalties for violators.
In turn, Valery Bogomolov, in addition to weight and size control, noted the complex improvement of territories adjacent to highways among the most topical problems. The auditor of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation recalled the importance of not only repairing roads and sidewalks, but also equipping them with modern lighting and security systems.
Much attention at the meeting of the Board was devoted to the maintenance of roads and ensuring road safety. According to Evgeny Moskvichev, these are priority tasks that are just as important as the construction of new routes.
“The road workers of our country are able to perform tasks of any complexity. And the residents of the Russian Federation are now getting truly safe, comfortable roads. We see how the situation in the road sector has changed for the better over the past decade. Of course, this is the result of long and painstaking work. It is gratifying that in terms of safety and quality, regional roads are “catching up” with federal indicators,” commented the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Transport and the Development of Transport Infrastructure.
As Sergei Ten noted, systematic work to reduce the level of accidents on the roads of the Russian Federation directly depends on well-coordinated interaction between the federal center, regional project teams and territorial divisions of the traffic police. An open dialogue, timely response to the emergence of new centers of accidents, as well as replication of the most successful practices of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are precisely the mechanisms that directly affect the safety of highways.
“It is clear that in each region the work is built differently, but in the implementation of measures to eliminate the centers of accidents, the prevention and prevention of traffic violations, the development of intelligent transport systems, digital technologies, road services, we must have complete mutual understanding. For my part, I want to say that the Committees of the State Duma are ready to get involved, to consider existing issues and problems, including at the site of the Public Council of the federal project of the United Russia political party Safe Roads,” Sergei Ten said.
Vyacheslav Petushenko noted that it was thanks to the support of the country’s leadership, the well-coordinated work of the road workers, their professionalism and responsibility that all the tasks of 2022 were completed. At the same time, the high rates that were gained last year will continue in 2023 and 2024.
In the second part of the meeting, Roman Novikov dwelled in detail on the key issues of the department’s activities this year. In particular, the need for the prompt entry of all data into the Etalon system and the timely development of local projects was mentioned…
