Opening of part of second ring road around Minsk
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Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko opened part of the second ring road around Minsk on 6 October.
The total length of the second ring road is 159km. The President was informed about the plans to build roadside service facilities there. Aleksandr Lukashenko was in favor of the proposal. “There are good towns, district capitals every 40-50km along every road in Belarus,” pointed out the head of state. “These outlets and infrastructure should be built in these district capitals, in Bereza, Kobrin, and Dzerzhinsk where workforce is available,” he added.
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, this will promote the development of district capitals and other towns located in the vicinity of the motorway. The President said that increasing the housing density in Minsk is not a good idea. It is necessary to build more homes and infrastructure beyond the Minsk ring road.
“Don’t build homes too densely in Minsk. People are already complaining. There are a lot of places beyond the ring road where homes and other facilities can be built such as Zaslavl, Rudensk, Fanipol, Dzerzhinsk,” pointed out the President.
At the same time it is necessary to improve the transportation system by adding railroads to motorways, said the head of state. “It would be convenient and we will avoid Minsk’s oversaturation,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko. Once again he reiterated that housing construction in Minsk must be minimized. “There is no need for everyone to live in Minsk. Today Minsk is home to nearly two million people, one fifth of the nation. If more people come to live in Minsk, the place will be packed as tight as Moscow,” the President warned.
The head of state was informed about the fulfillment of his instruction to build the second ring road and the prospects of developing the transport infrastructure in Belarus, including automobile and railway transport. The second ring road is being built in two stages. The first stage will be completed by 1 January 2016. By this time there are plans to open part of the M3 Minsk-Vitebsk road to the M6/E28 Minsk-Grodno-the border of Poland (Bruzgi) motorway. The second stage of the construction project to open part of the M6/E28 Minsk-Grodno-the border of Poland (Bruzgi) motorway to the M1/E30 Brest-Kozlovichi-Minsk-the border of Russia (Redki) motorway is expected to be completed in 2017.
The President believes that the construction of the second ring road is timely because it helps unload main roads of Minsk. It is also important that local materials are used as they make the process cheaper, he added. Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that the second ring road should be an example of road construction.
The head of state went for an exploratory trip along the newly opened section of the second Minsk ring road, talked to workers of the road construction enterprises and Minsk District residents and answered a number of their questions.
The total length of the second ring road is 159km. The President was informed about the plans to build roadside service facilities there. Aleksandr Lukashenko was in favor of the proposal. “There are good towns, district capitals every 40-50km along every road in Belarus,” pointed out the head of state. “These outlets and infrastructure should be built in these district capitals, in Bereza, Kobrin, and Dzerzhinsk where workforce is available,” he added.
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, this will promote the development of district capitals and other towns located in the vicinity of the motorway. The President said that increasing the housing density in Minsk is not a good idea. It is necessary to build more homes and infrastructure beyond the Minsk ring road.
“Don’t build homes too densely in Minsk. People are already complaining. There are a lot of places beyond the ring road where homes and other facilities can be built such as Zaslavl, Rudensk, Fanipol, Dzerzhinsk,” pointed out the President.
At the same time it is necessary to improve the transportation system by adding railroads to motorways, said the head of state. “It would be convenient and we will avoid Minsk’s oversaturation,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko. Once again he reiterated that housing construction in Minsk must be minimized. “There is no need for everyone to live in Minsk. Today Minsk is home to nearly two million people, one fifth of the nation. If more people come to live in Minsk, the place will be packed as tight as Moscow,” the President warned.
The head of state was informed about the fulfillment of his instruction to build the second ring road and the prospects of developing the transport infrastructure in Belarus, including automobile and railway transport. The second ring road is being built in two stages. The first stage will be completed by 1 January 2016. By this time there are plans to open part of the M3 Minsk-Vitebsk road to the M6/E28 Minsk-Grodno-the border of Poland (Bruzgi) motorway. The second stage of the construction project to open part of the M6/E28 Minsk-Grodno-the border of Poland (Bruzgi) motorway to the M1/E30 Brest-Kozlovichi-Minsk-the border of Russia (Redki) motorway is expected to be completed in 2017.
The President believes that the construction of the second ring road is timely because it helps unload main roads of Minsk. It is also important that local materials are used as they make the process cheaper, he added. Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that the second ring road should be an example of road construction.
The head of state went for an exploratory trip along the newly opened section of the second Minsk ring road, talked to workers of the road construction enterprises and Minsk District residents and answered a number of their questions.