The Russian government has again adjusted the road five-year plan

The completion of a number of large federal road construction projects in the Moscow region, Leningrad, Penza regions and North Ossetia has been postponed by decision of the Russian government. This follows from the published road activity plan for 2024–2028 with funding of 14 trillion rubles. Thus, on M-8 (in the section from 35 to 47 km after Pushkino), reconstruction will be completed in 2028, and not in 2026. At the same time, some projects, on the contrary, are expected to be completed earlier than planned. We are talking, for example, about the phased reconstruction and construction of new directions of the Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway. The updated plan allocates funds for road construction in new regions for the first time. The revision of plans to launch individual facilities, according to experts, may be associated with “the potential for a sharp increase in passenger and freight flows” and a reduction in the overall amount of funding for road projects.

The government approved the five-year road activity plan (a list of the most important road construction projects with funding) back in June 2022 and updates it annually. On January 5, the White House briefly announced the new amendments: the number of objects included in the plan increased from 250 to 380, the amount of funding – from 13.2 trillion to 14 trillion rubles, the validity of the document was extended until 2028 inclusive. The 394-page document itself was published after the New Year holidays, Kommersant studied it.

First of all, we are talking about adjustments to the commissioning dates for a number of facilities. For example, in the Moscow region on the M-5 highway (Ural), the completion of the construction of a new section of the highway – from Ulyanino to Nepetsino – has moved from 2024 to 2026, the section bypassing the village of Oktyabrsky – from 2024 to 2025. On M-8 (on the section from 35 to 47 km after Pushkino), reconstruction will be completed in 2028, not 2026. In the Leningrad region, the commissioning of the section from the 100th to the 134th km after the reconstruction of the A-181 highway was postponed from 2024 to 2026, and the reconstruction of the St. Petersburg southern half-ring (on the section from the 64th to the 106th km) will be completed not in 2025, but in 2027. In North Ossetia, the opening of sections of the Vladikavkaz bypass as part of the R-217 has been postponed from 2024 to 2026. In the Penza region, the bypass of Spassk as part of the M-5 highway is from 2024 to 2025.

However, a number of projects are planned to be completed, on the contrary, earlier. The commissioning date of the northern bypass of Astrakhan (as part of R-22) has been moved from 2029 to 2028, the bypass of the village of Sokury (as part of the R-239 road) in Tatarstan – from 2027 to 2026, and the phased reconstruction and construction of new directions of Rublevo- Uspenskoe Highway – from 2024–2028 to 2024–2027.

Among the new objects included in the plan, Kommersant discovered a 36-kilometer toll backup of the Yegoryevskoye Highway in the Moscow region (completion of construction in 2027), a tunnel under the railway tracks in Sergiev Posad (completion after 2028), a bridge over the Oka in Ryazan (completion after 2028). As the Ministry of Transport explained to Kommersant, the new plan includes objects whose implementation is necessary within the framework of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation and the government, construction for the development of transport corridors North-South, West-East, as well as key highways in the Azov-Black Sea direction and the Far Eastern Federal District . The document was also supplemented with projects to eliminate bottlenecks, including through the construction of bypasses for cities and large settlements.

It is interesting that the list of Avtodor objects from the five-year plan has completely disappeared: the plan in this part now refers to the state company’s activity program until 2030 (approved by government decree in August last year). Now, according to Kommersant, a new edition is being prepared. The maximum amount of financing for a state-owned company increased in the new version of the plan: in 2024 – from 36.9 billion to 130.5 billion rubles, in 2025 – from 82.2 billion to 251.9 billion rubles, in 2026 – from 63 billion to 223.9 billion rubles. The Ministry of Transport did not give an explanation, saying only that in relation to the state-owned company, “the total volumes of financing of its activities from the federal budget” are now indicated. Among the important current projects of Avtodor, it is worth noting the completion of the M-11 highway (bypassing Tver), the continuation of the M-12 to Yekaterinburg, as well as promising ones – the Adler bypass, the expansion of M-1 and M-3.

For the first time, the plan includes measures for the repair and construction of roads in new regions: in 2024 it is planned to spend 97.3 billion rubles on this, in 2025 – 102.8 billion rubles, in 2026 – 17.3 billion rubles . (not provided for 2027–2028). Total – 217 billion rubles. Also, the five-year plan now includes 33 areas where lighting is planned to be installed, including on the A-291, M-7, P-176, P-132, M-8, A-121 and others. Rosavtodor conducted a large-scale analysis of its subordinate network for the presence of places with high risks of accidents, including due to insufficient lighting on road sections. “Based on the results of this work, priority objects were selected,” the Ministry of Transport explained to Kommersant. “In addition, the updated plan includes measures for the installation of noise barriers, sidewalks, elevated pedestrian crossings, and recreation areas.” Previously, all this work was carried out according to plan as part of the “comprehensive development” of the sites, but now they have been detailed with funding secured.

Updating the plan is a “working moment,” noted Dmitry Agafonov, deputy director of the Center for Economic Research of Infrastructure Industries at RANEPA. “Adjustments to strategic documents that assume a total funding volume of 14 trillion rubles are normal practices and should be carried out taking into account the global economic and political situation that has developed by 2024,” he says. A review of plans to launch individual facilities, in his opinion, may be associated with “the potential for a sharp increase in passenger and cargo flows.” Mr. Agafonov considers the main reason for the adjustment to be a reduction in funding for road construction. According to the Sherpa Group, in accordance with the federal budget for 2024–2026, federal road expenditures (as part of the state program “Development of the Transport System”) will be reduced by 14.7% (by 74 billion rubles) in 2025 alone. Mr. Agafonov recalls that in 2023, at the government level, a decision was made to reduce by 4% the amount of funds allocated within the framework of the national project “Safe Quality Roads”.

“Due to the sanctions, freight and tourist flows have turned from west to east and south; in these directions the roads cannot cope with the increased number of vehicles. In the new five-year plan, the emphasis is shifted to objects in these areas; they are now a higher priority,” adds auto expert Igor Morzharetto, a member of the public council at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “The construction and reconstruction of roads in the west and north are postponed to a later date, which is logical in the current conditions.”

The Ministry of Transport told Kommersant that the action plan will be supplemented annually to update it with the law on the federal budget.

Ivan Buranov