A360 Lena Highway

Lena Highway
Route information
Length: 1,235 km (767 mi)
Major junctions
North end: Yakutsk
South end: Skovorodino
Highway system
Russian Federal Highways
M56 near Yakutsk

A360 Lena Highway or The Amur-Yakutsk Highway (Russian: Амуро-Якутская автомобильная дорога or Russian: Амуро-Якутская автомагистраль) – a federal highway (road) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia, connecting Yakutsk with the Trans-Siberian Railway corridor near Skovorodino. The road was built in stages between 1925 and 1964.

It runs parallel to the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline railway. It takes its name from the Lena River, which runs more or less north-south in this part of Siberia. The road's southern terminus is at the village of Never near Skovorodino, where it intersects the M58 highway at a cloverleaf junction. Actually, with Yakutsk situated entirely on the west bank of Lena, and the road running on the east bank, the highway terminates in Nizhny Bestyakh (Нижний Бестях), a settlement of 4,000 people opposite Yakutsk on the east bank of Lena. When river conditions permit, one may drive right over the frozen river to Yakutsk, or take the ferry, but much of the year the river is impassable due to flooding or ice floes or semi-thawed ice not supporting the weight of vehicles.

At Nizhny Bestyakh, Lena Highway connects to Kolyma Highway (The Road of Bones), also designated M56, linking Yakutsk with Magadan to the east, on the Pacific Ocean seacoast.

Although it is a federal highway, it was just a dirt road until 2014. When frozen in the winter, this makes for an excellent surface, and the posted speed limit was 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph). However, in the summer, with any significant rain, the road turned to impassable mud that often swallowed whole smaller vehicles.[1] Significant parts of the road, mainly in the south, have been paved[2]

The last problematic part of the highway was paved in 2014 and now it is accessible all through the year.[3] However the bridge over the Lena river is still not constructed.The only transport working across the river when it is congested with floating ice are helicopters and hydrofoils.

Bridge over Lena

There is no bridge over the Lena anywhere in Yakutia. One is meant to be built 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Yakutsk center, of some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length. In July 2013 the federal road agency, Rosavtodor requested a tender to build a three-kilometer road-only bridge over the river, expecting a cost of $1.7 bn/56 bn RUB, and a 6-year construction period.[4] The winner was planned to be announced in spring 2014.[5] But the project is postponed because money is used for infrastructure projects on Crimean peninsula.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Archer, Rick (January 2007). "The Russian Highway from Hell". Retrieved 2008-04-05. Pictures of the Lena Highway with some commentary.
  2. ↑ Google maps
  3. ↑ http://steer.ru/node/33993
  4. ↑ Lena River Bridge to Provide Hope and Fruit
  5. ↑ MegaProject 124: Two teams qualified for $1.7b Lena River bridge PPP project in Russia (Infrappp; Nov 6, 2013)
  6. ↑ Замминистра транспорта опроверг сообщения об отмене строительства моста через Лену (in Russian). Interfax. 30 May 2014.
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