The concept of «reference road network» has been introduced into Russian legislation

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law creating the legal basis for the formation of a reference network of roads in Russia by September 1, 2024. The corresponding document is published on the official portal of legal information.

The amendments to the law on road activities supplement the classification of roads presented in it with a clause on the creation of a support network of roads that ensure uninterrupted transport connectivity and the unity of the economic space of Russia.

Thus, the reference network will include federal highways, as well as regional and inter-municipal roads that meet the criteria established by the Government of the Russian Federation.

«It should be recalled that the formation of the supporting network of highways began two years ago. According to the visual and transparent system of indicators from the entire network of highways of the Russian Federation, which is more than 1.5 million km, more than 136 thousand km of roads were selected: of which 64 thousand km are of federal significance, 72 thousand km are regional and inter-municipal. The development of criteria for the selection of roads into the support network was carried out with direct interaction with the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and taking into account their proposals. Also, this work was synchronized with the measures provided for by national projects, state programs, provisions of existing regulatory legal acts and standards», said Igor Kostyuchenko, deputy head of the Federal Road Agency.

The National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) was involved in this work as the main consultant. The specialists developed the concept of forming a reference network of highways, taking into account, in particular, the geographical characteristics of the country and the need to provide affordable and high-quality transport services to residents of all regions. Within the framework of this concept, the definition of the backbone network and the basic criteria for its definition were proposed.

The task of developing roads included in the reference network is reflected in the regional five-year plans for road activities. The project programs of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation were considered at the Higher School of Economics and received approval from the Federal Road Agency. The result of this work was memoranda on the development of public roads of regional or inter-municipal and local importance, signed by Rosavtodor with the project teams of each constituent entity of the Russian Federation. «Despite the fact that the list of roads of the supporting network was formed, there was previously no legislative consolidation of this concept, as well as criteria for the selection of roads and the procedure for approving the final list. These amendments filled this gap. The changes will certainly have an impact on overall approaches to road works funding as well. This, first of all, is the prioritization of measures to bring exactly the most popular roads of the support network into a regulatory transport and operational state», Igor Kostyuchenko said.

Recall that the key task of the road workers by 2027 is to bring 85% of the roads of the supporting network to a normative state. Thanks to its implementation, the logistics connectivity of the country's territories will be fully ensured, taking into account the main socio-economic needs of the population.