The discussion over road repair finances and planning recently took center stage at the State Duma Committee on Transport. In its briefing, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev reported that in 2022 a total of 26.8 thousand kilometers of federal and regional roads were repaired, a year over year rise of 6 percent. An additional 1.6 thousand kilometers were constructed, marking a 15 percent increase. These figures reflect a sustained push to rebuild and expand the nation’s road network, with a focus on connectivity and safer travel for both urban and rural corridors.
Yet, the optimistic statistics mask a more nuanced reality. Auditor Valery Bogomolov, who attended the session, redirected attention to a countervailing trend. He observed that in some cases when road surfaces reach high levels of smoothness and polish, the incidence of severe accidents can rise. This observation underscores the importance of a comprehensive safety approach that goes beyond surface upgrades to include risk-reducing features and driver behavior considerations.
It should be noted that this assessment is part of ongoing oversight discussions about how infrastructure improvements are implemented and measured. The broader implication is that high-quality repairs must be paired with appropriate safety measures and regulatory standards to ensure that the gains in road condition translate into real reductions in traffic fatalities and serious injuries across different regions and traffic volumes.
Historical context from late 2022 shows that executives in traffic safety were already calling for a balanced approach. The head of the traffic police at that time highlighted that smoother roads can sometimes correlate with more severe outcomes if accompanying safety measures are not concurrently upgraded. The suggestion was to legally codify a set of compulsory works that should accompany resurfacing projects. This would include not only pavements but also barrier protections along high-traffic routes, adequate lighting, clear markings, and other mitigations to shield drivers from potential hazards during and after construction work.
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Note: the above points are discussed in public policy circles and are part of an ongoing conversation about how best to align road rehabilitation with road safety, municipal planning, and regional needs. The content here reflects reporting and commentary from multiple industry and government sources and is attributed to those discussions in the public record as of the time of publication.