Moscow will grow with “Baltic” – Newspaper Kommersant No. 180 (7381) of 09/29/2022

The head section of the Novorizhskoye highway may be transferred to the ownership of Moscow, Kommersant found out. Such a scenario is being discussed by the capital’s mayor’s office and Rosavtodor. The city administration needs this for the prompt construction of connections to the highway and the organization of dedicated lines, the city administration explained to Kommersant. Such a step is logical for the development of the territory of Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye, where an office center and a Sberbank residential complex are being built, Kommersant sources emphasize. This will allow Rosavtodor to reduce budget spending, experts add.

The issue of transferring the “head section” (17-22 km) of the M-9 “Baltic” highway from federal property to Moscow was discussed in September at one of the working groups of the Directorate of the Moscow Transport Hub (MTU). The issue is under discussion, Rosavtodor confirmed to Kommersant. “It is still premature to talk about the timing of the transfer, this requires the principal consent of the government of the city of Moscow,” the agency clarified. “Such consent has not yet been received by the Federal Highway Agency.” In the metropolitan department of transport, they limited themselves to confirming the fact of the discussion.

The 597-kilometer M-9 Baltiya, or Novorizhskoye Highway, starts from the Moscow Ring Road and ends at the border with Latvia. The route is owned by Rosavtodor and passes through the territory of Moscow, Moscow, Tver and Pskov regions. In recent years, no fundamental changes have taken place on the head section of the road – only annual repairs have been carried out. Despite four or five lanes in each direction, the track regularly gets stuck in traffic jams during peak hours.

The transfer of ownership of the road will allow the city to “promptly” change the traffic organization scheme and make a decision on the construction of additional junctions to the highway, the press service of the Moscow depstroy explained to Kommersant. It will also ensure “priority movement of route vehicles with the organization of dedicated lanes” and synchronize “projects for the development of transport infrastructure,” the department said. The issue of changing the owner is being discussed in connection with plans to develop a public, business and residential development zone of the Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye project, adds a Kommersant source familiar with the situation. We are talking about the Sbercity project with headquarters, offices and a residential area in this area (the developer is JSC Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye). “The implementation of these projects will affect the boundaries of the existing right of way of the route,” explains the interlocutor of Kommersant.

Moscow, we recall, is designing and building a new Rublyovo-Arkhangelskaya metro line (starts from Shelepikha station and ends at Ilyinskaya station) and wants to extend Rublevskoye Highway to a residential area with the construction of a bridge across the Moscow River. For the latest project, documentation is already being developed, Kommersant was told in the depstroy. “This will ensure the transport accessibility of the development of Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye, since now the only connection with this territory is only through the interchange of the Krasnogorsk ring, which is heavily loaded,” explained Kommersant in the Moscow department of transport. The roundabout between M-9 and Ilinskoye Highway, apparently, is also being reconstructed with the construction of a new exit and entrance.

Sberbank did not respond to Kommersant’s request yesterday.

Maxim Leshchev, managing partner of the Meta group, does not rule out that the initiative to transfer the road to Moscow’s ownership is connected not only with the plans for the development of Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye, but also with the presence of officials’ summer cottages in the area. The expert suggests that the decision to transfer the section may change the “safety regime” on the track. It is expensive for Rosavtodor to maintain the head section of Novorizhskoye Highway, since this is a high-speed highway with very high traffic, says Mikhail Blinkin, research director of the Institute of Transport Economics at the Higher School of Economics. A fresh four-year contract for the maintenance of two bridges on the 19th kilometer of the M-9 cost the Federal Highway Agency almost 700 million rubles. (concluded at the end of August), follows from the public procurement data. The Moscow authorities will receive all the rights to connect logistics centers and settlements to this road, Mr. Blinkin notes: “The federal authorities are solving this issue today, but Moscow, as an interested person, will do it faster.”

Pyotr Shkumatov, coordinator of the Blue Buckets movement, commenting on the version that the Novorizhskoye highway on the “Moscow” section may become paid, recalls that the road has no alternative, and this is a prerequisite for such a scenario.

Ivan Buranov, Alexandra Mertsalova