The moment has arrived to refresh the prevailing industry standard by embracing modern technologies, and Rosavtodor is confident this will happen. More than 18 million rubles have been earmarked for this initiative, funding the organization that wins the tender to update GOST 52289-2019, which governs technical means of organizing traffic, including the rules for road signs, markings, traffic lights, roadblocks, and guidance devices.
The ministry aims to introduce advanced, forward looking and resource efficient solutions. The goal is to empower authorities to implement tighter control on vehicles and pedestrians, with the intended outcome of safer roads and a boost in throughput on key corridors.
According to Andrey Mukhortikov, a member of the public council for the Ministry of Transport near Moscow, several road situations call for dedicated signs. He notes, for instance, a route that begins with an asphalt surface and then shifts to an unpaved section. Drivers must receive a clear warning, yet present signage does not cover this transition; a precedent could be set by aligning with what is already described in neighboring jurisdictions. The changes should be coordinated with traffic regulations, which themselves require updates that may take time to implement [Kommersant, attributed to Andrey Mukhortikov].
There is also a shortage of arrow varieties to indicate lane direction. In practice, additional indicators such as explicit left and right lane arrows are needed to reduce ambiguity for drivers and to streamline lane usage in complex setups, especially on multi lane highways and urban arterials.
Dmitry Popov, a specialist with the St. Petersburg Traffic Management Directorate, points out a mismatch between the current standard and the traffic rules on several markings. He highlights that a diagonal pedestrian crossing marker exists in the standard, yet the rules specify a different symbol, which can cause inconsistent interpretation by road users. He also mentions a blue marking used for paid parking in the standard that does not appear in the traffic regulations. Such inconsistencies warrant careful harmonization to ensure signage is universally understood by drivers and pedestrians alike [Dmitry Popov, St. Petersburg DODD commentary].
Disagreements extend to the operation of the Don’t Stop sign. The GOST framework states that its effect ends immediately after the Parking sign, yet the traffic regulations do not explicitly state this. In practical terms, this discrepancy allows for the possible clearing of vehicles from parking zones and bays, which must be reconciled so enforcement actions are clear and uniform across documents. These are not isolated examples; multiple signs exhibit similar gaps that can lead to misinterpretation or uneven enforcement.
The timetable for the update is firming up. The responsible parties will reveal who will lead the GOST revision at the start of October, and industry observers expect the new rules to come into force sometime in mid 2025 or later. The transition plan envisions a phased approach in which the updated standards are adopted gradually, with pilot regions testing the new signage and traffic control devices before nationwide deployment. This approach is designed to minimize disruption while progressively raising safety and efficiency on the road network [Official planning briefing, quoted in industry coverage].