Road to Murmansk better than ever
The road from the Norwegian-Russian border to Murmansk is in better condition than ever. In course of the last two years nearly the entire 240 kilometers long road has got new asphalt.
The improvements have made the drive from Kirkenes to Murmansk more comfortable and shortened the driving time between the two towns.
The so-called Kola road from the border to Murmansk has for many years been in a miserable shape. Russia started reconstruction of the road, which has status as federal, in the autumn of 2008. The work continues this summer and right now workers are laying new asphalt cover on the road in the Pechenga district.
30 workers are now repairing this part of the road, which used to be one of the worst, TV21 reports.
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Murmansk Oblast has more than 2500 kilometers of road. 500 kilometers are federal roads, the rest are under regional responsibility. The federal roads lead from the Norwegian border to Murmansk and from Murmansk to Kandalaksha and further south to St. Petersburg. This road is part of the European route E105, which goes all the way from Kirkenes to Yalta, Ukraine.
Fee-paying roads are getting more and more common in Russia, but this is no alternative for Murmansk Oblast, says Oleg Sokolov Head of Murmankavtodor, the state company responsible for management of roads in the region, to Argumenty I Fakty. – According to the law, fee-paying roads can only be used if there are alternative roads of decent quality. In Murmansk there are no such alternatives.
