MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - More than 50% of Russia's federal road network does not meet operational requirements, the transportation minister said Friday.
"As of 2006, only 37% of federal roads and 24% of regional roads meet operational standards," Igor Levitin told members of the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma.
"If the trend continues, less than 15% of all roads in Russia will remain in satisfactory condition by 2010," the minister said.
Levitin said the construction of a general-purpose road network in Russia was too slow, and by 2010 the road density per thousand people will remain at the 2005 level while the number of vehicles will increase by 50%.
"This means that in 2010, we will have 44 cars per kilometer of road or street with public transportation, and 92 vehicles per kilometer in 2025," Levitin said.
High traffic density, speeding, drink driving, and un-safe roads are among the main cause of road accidents in Russia. The minister said about 10,000 people in Russia die and 70,000 are injured in traffic accidents every year.
The Transportation Ministry asked the government to allocate an additional 8 billion rubles (about $300 million) to install "speed trap" cameras with road signs along federal roads to force reckless drivers to reduce their speed, the minister said.
He also said 70% of all road accidents involving fatalities occur in large cities, and the priority in the development of a road infrastructure should be given to densely populated urban areas.
"Large cities will be given priority in the upgrade of internal [road] networks," Levitin said.
At the same time, the minister said the implementation of the federal targeted program for road construction will allow Russia to bring 90% of its road network up to international standards by 2025.
Levitin said that the government planned to allocate 25 billion rubles (about $930 mln) from the Investment Fund on construction of new roads in 2007 alone.
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov supported the transportation minister's remarks by saying the diversification of the country's economy will not be possible without the development of a road infrastructure.
Speaking at a congress of the Russian United Industrial Party Friday, Zhukov said the government will attract various investments, totaling about 2 trillion rubles ($75 billion), for the long-term development of Russia's road network.
"These [investment] sources will include state and private investment, investor participation in the construction of toll roads, etc.," the deputy prime minister said.
