Last section of the Central Ring Road opens traffic

On the last section of the Central Ring Automobile Road (TsKAD) - from Kaluga to Simferopol highway - traffic was started. The opening ceremony was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov and Chairman of the Management Board of Avtodor Group Vyacheslav Petushenko and others.

"I remember how everything started and how the work went on. Both Moscow and the Moscow Region have played a significant key role here," Vladimir Putin said during the opening ceremony of the highway.

According to Marat Khusnullin, the launch of the TsCAD made it possible to reduce accidents and improve the environment in the capital: "The accident rate in Moscow has decreased by 15 percent among freight transport. The ecology is much better, because the trucks do not go for hours, they do not slowly tail, but they are already on the high-speed highway."

The Central Ring Road is one of the key projects for the Moscow region. The opening of this highway made it possible to reduce the load on the Moscow Automobile Ring Road and provide a link between the main outbound routes.

"A quarter of all trucks were transferred to the Central Ring Road, and this means for us about 6-10 percent improvement in traffic on key outbound routes. And the MKAD loading decreased by 16 percent. This, of course, has greatly improved the traffic," Sergei Sobyanin said.

In several stages

The construction of the Central Ring Road (federal highway A113) began in 2014 and was completed in July 2021. The length of the four-lane highway is 336.5 kilometers. The highway passes through the territory of the Troitsky and Novomoskovsky Administrative Districts (TiNAO) and the Moscow region - about 50 kilometers from the MKAD, parallel to the Moscow Small (A107) and Large (A108) rings.

The new road has been laid bypassing large settlements of the Moscow region and connects the main outbound routes - Kashira, Simferopol, Kaluga, Kiev, Minsk, Volokolamsk, Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Dmitrov, Yaroslavl, Gorky and Ryazan highways.

Multi-level transport interchanges and overpasses have been built at the intersection with federal and regional highways and railways. In total, 20 transport interchanges, more than 140 overpasses, 55 bridges, seven wildlife crossings and 19 pedestrian crossings were made.

Travel on the new highway will have the following toll rate - 4.8 rubles per kilometer for passenger cars and 15.8 rubles per kilometer for cargo vehicles. Drivers of cars equipped with transponders will be able to use the discount system. The Moscow Small Ring (A107) will remain a free alternative to the Central Ring Road.

"This road is really unique. Firstly, even on an international scale, this is the largest project in the world, because it takes place in an agglomeration, it involves the most populated part of the country, and during the construction of this project there were about a thousand of resurfacing," Marat Khusnullin said.

At the same time, according to him, Moscow took upon itself the work on all engineering communications.

The construction of the Central Ring Road was carried out in stages. So, on November 11, 2020, the section from the M11 Neva to the M7 Volga with a length of 105.9 kilometers was opened. Then, on December 28, 2020, traffic was launched on sections with a total length of 204.9 kilometers:

- from M7 Volga to M4 Don - 96.9 kilometers;

- from the M11 Neva to the intersection with the A107 near the village of Lisintsevo - 76.4 kilometers;

- from M10 Russia to M11 Neva - 7.8 kilometers;

- from the M4 Don to the intersection with the A107 in the area of the M2 Crimea - 13 kilometers;

- from the Kaluga highway to the intersection with the A107 near the village of Lisintsevo - 10.8 kilometers.

The last section - from Kaluga to Simferopol highway - was opened on July 8, 2021. Its length is 25.7 kilometers, of which 12.5 kilometers passes through the territory of Moscow. In addition, the capital's Government has carried out the reconstruction of the Kaluga highway near the intersection with the Central Ring Road. The implementation of this project made it possible to integrate the Central Ring Road into the transport framework of the TiNAO.

The permitted speed of cars on the section of the Central Ring Road from Kaluga to Simferopol highway is 110 kilometers per hour (with the prospect of increasing to 130). According to forecasts, the maximum traffic intensity will be 44 thousand cars per day, of which 58 percent are cars, 42 percent are trucks.

Unload the MKAD and improve logistics

The construction of the Central Ring Road is the largest project for the development of the road infrastructure of the Moscow region. The opening of traffic along the ring has significantly improved transport services for more than 2.6 million people - dwellers of TiNAO, as well as Odintsovo, Istra, Solnechnogorsk, Dmitrov, Pushkin, Shchelkovo, Bogoroditskoye, Chernogolovka, Pavlovsky Posad, Ramenskoye, Domodedovo, Podolsk and Naro-Fominsk.

The Central Ring Road commissioning will be able to optimize cargo deliveries. Large vehicles will not be able to drive close to Moscow, cargo will be re-sorted and delivered in small batches.

The Ring Road will make it possible to create conditions for the comprehensive development of the territories adjacent to the highway, including creating new jobs.

"We already have 19 industrial parks around us today. But the point is not even that, but that the demand is great and the adjacent territories are beginning to develop. This is a very important road for the economy. But it is important for every person who goes to the airport, receives medical services," the Governor of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, said.

According to experts, by 2023, warehouses with a total area of about eight million square meters will be built near the Central Ring Road and 15 thousand jobs will be created. About 1,300 enterprises will be able to improve the logistic performance.

The first results of the opening traffic on the Central Ring Road:

- MKAD day transit dropped by almost 50 thousand trucks;

- MKAD average traffic speed increased by eight percent;

- MKAD traffic load decreased by 16 percent;

- MKAD road traffic accidents with trucks decreased by 50 percent, this is dozens of lives saved annually;

- Moscow ring and outbound routes traffic load decreased by 5-10 percent, the vehicle capacity of the city's street and road network increased.

In the future, the north-eastern section of the Central Ring Road with a length of 100 kilometers will become part of the Europe - Western China transport corridor with a length of 8.5 thousand kilometers. 2.5 thousand kilometers of this route will pass through the territory of Russia - along the M11 highway from St. Petersburg to Moscow and the M12 highway, being under construction, from Moscow to Kazan.

Sergei Sobyanin thanked the President of Russia for his attention to the development of the transport system. "This is a key factor in the normal development and economy, the social well-being of the entire metropolis and agglomeration."

Moscow, in turn, will continue to implement transport projects that will help to establish communication between the regions. For example, the North-Eastern chord connecting the M11 road (St. Petersburg-Moscow) and the beginning of the Moscow - Kazan road runs through Moscow.

"We are creating a traffic-free connection between the two largest Russian federal highways - the M11 and M12. Therefore, when implementing this project, the construction of the Moscow - Kazan road, we will be already ready to connect these two major highways by this time, this will, of course, give an additional effect," Moscow Mayor made a conclusion.