After around 14 years of work, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most important infrastructure projects – a 670-kilometer road between Moscow and Saint Petersburg – is now open.
Putin opened the last section of the highway – a bypass around the provincial city of Tver – driving a Russian-made Lada Aura car.
The last section to be built includes a 738 meter long bridge that spans the upper reaches of the Volga River.
Plans to ease the ancient route between Russia’s most important cities are long-standing. The route passed through many villages and was only partially developed as a highway. Putin ordered the construction of the new highway in 2004 and construction of the first section began in 2010.
But it’s not free.
Drivers will have to pay tolls almost everywhere on the new M-11 motorway. The most expensive is the first leg from Moscow to Sheremetyevo Airport and beyond, which costs 795 rubles ($9).
Depending on the day and fare, the entire trip can cost more than 3,000 rubles.
While in Tver, Putin also opened a second important new route, as reported by the state news agency TASS: the bypass of the motorway around the city of Tolyatti with a 3.7-kilometer bridge over the Volga in its lower reaches. .
