The Moscow region may have its own automobile chord

The Moscow region authorities are preparing a project for a new road: the Eastern Expressway in the northeast of the region will connect the recently opened M-12 and the Mytishchi Expressway, which is under construction. The government of the Moscow region did not rule out the possibility of attracting private funds for construction. However, no investors have yet been found. Experts point out that at the current key rate, the economics of the project are “unattractive” for market participants. Others, however, are confident that “well-designed” projects are in demand even in difficult economic conditions.

The regional Ministry of Transport told Kommersant about plans to build a 39-kilometer new highway in the Moscow region. “The Eastern Expressway is a promising road that in the future will connect the Yaroslavskoye Highway and the M-12 highway,” the department noted. “It will pass through the urban districts of Ivanteevka, Fryazino, Bogorodsky, Losino-Petrovsky, Shchelkovo. Its main goal is to improve transport accessibility of the above-mentioned urban districts, as well as chord connections between outbound highways.”

The technical parameters of the project have not yet been made public, and the design and estimate documentation is not yet ready. “Various options for implementing the facility are being considered, including with the involvement of extra-budgetary sources,” the Moscow Region Ministry of Transport reported. “Currently there are no interested investors. The cost of building the road has not been assessed, and the construction period has not been determined.”

Previously, only certain details of the project were known. Thus, in one of the videos posted on the social network by the governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov in the summer of 2022, the frame included a map where the approximate route of the Eastern Expressway was marked. In December 2022, the Moscow Regional Architecture Department ordered the preparation of site plans for the construction of the Tarasovka-Ivanteevka road, which, apparently, is one of the stages of the highway.

“In the north-eastern sector of the near Moscow region there is a large agglomeration of Mytishchi-Korolev-Ivanteevka-Shchelkovo-Fryazino, and there are insufficient transport connections,” explains Andrei Mukhortikov, a member of the Public Council under the regional Ministry of Transport, of the need to build a road. “The existing roads, two lanes wide, pass through residential areas arrays. The construction of a new road in the future will create a convenient transit corridor from Yaroslavskoye Highway to M-7 Volga, allowing some of the transit to be removed from residential streets.” The expert calls the main risks at the construction stage the passage of the route in an area of ​​fairly dense residential development and the need to buy out a large number of land plots because of this.

“The Moscow region has significant experience in implementing projects within the framework of public-private partnerships,” says Vadim Kalinin, executive director of the Association of Infrastructure Investors and Lenders. “However, with the current key rate, the economics of the project become unattractive for investors. It is necessary to create conditions for investors, including through a mechanism for subsidizing interest rates on loans. A preferential rate of about 5% per annum for the implementation of large transport projects can be considered the most optimal in the current conditions.”

“Well-developed projects, as practice shows, are in demand among investors even in difficult economic conditions,” believes Yuri Ponomarev, head of the laboratory for infrastructure and spatial research at the Institute of Industry Markets and Infrastructure at RANEPA. He cites the example of the Moscow government issuing green infrastructure bonds in 2021: the authorities used the funds raised to finance the construction of the Big Circle Metro Line and the purchase of electric buses. Large road projects have the greatest chance of being implemented under a concession with operation on a paid basis, adds Andrey Mukhortikov, but the main problem is the long payback period of investments – from 15 years and above.

Outside the Moscow Ring Road, in the Moscow region and Moscow, several large road projects are being implemented. The capital’s authorities are building the Solntsevo-Butovo-Varshavskoe highway (partially ready, and will be completed in 2026), which flows into the regional toll South Lytkarinskaya highway (launch is promised in 2025). The Moscow region is also building a toll Mytishchi Expressway (it should open in 2024 and be connected to the future Eastern Expressway). In parallel, the region is preparing a project for a toll backup for the Yegoryevskoye Highway: the regional Ministry of Transport told Kommersant that the seizure of land plots will begin in 2024, construction will be completed in 2028. Rosavtodor is building Oktyabrsky, Ulyanino and Nepetsino bypasses on the M-5 (completion in 2024) and converting the “big concrete” A-108 from a two-lane to a four-lane format. The state company Avtodor is building an interchange between the Central Ring Road and the Mozhaisk Highway in the Malye Vyazem area (2024) and is preparing the M-1 highway for further expansion.

Ivan Buranov