The completion of the final 70 kilometers of the M12 Eastern highway, which will link Moscow and Kazan through five Russian regions, has brought the overall project to a high readiness level. Reports from ONLINE BUSINESS indicate that the Tatarstan section has surpassed 95 percent completion. While an exact service date for the toll highway remains unannounced, December 20 is floated as a possible opening window. At present, the project’s eighth stage is absorbing work on barriers, road signs, protective screens, and the introduction of artificial lighting. Preparations for the launch facilities of the sixth stage continue, covering the corridor from the Nizhny Novgorod region to the Chuvash Republic.
The M12 was engineered with very high load scenarios in mind. Road capacity assessments and predicted traffic density were calculated out to 2048, ensuring resilience for future demand. The road surface is notably thick, with a 102-centimeter layered composition of asphalt, crushed stone, and sand designed to endure heavy use and harsh conditions, according to Rashit Khazipov, head of the eighth stage of the M12 Vostok project under the state company Avtodor.
Environmentally conscious measures accompany the highway’s progress. Noise barriers are placed along communities, forests surrounding the route are shielded with protective nets to safeguard wildlife, and six eco-channels have been integrated to permit animal crossings across the highway in multiple locations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in February about plans to extend the under-construction M12 from Moscow to Kazan further north to Yekaterinburg and eventually toward Vladivostok. He noted that the route’s expansion would bring new corridors to Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China, widening international connectivity alongside domestic mobility gains.
Earlier reports note an incident near Ryazan where a man opened fire on vehicles on the M5 highway, underscoring ongoing security considerations for major road corridors in the region.