"The program was unprecedented": Which roads did Tatarstan invest more than 82 billion rubles in

      Local roads in Tatarstan’s municipalities were repaired for 36.5 billion rubles

      "As soon as a road with a crushed-stone surface reaches a village, residential construction begins there"

      This year 82.2 billion rubles were allocated for the repair and construction of regional and local roads in Tatarstan, including 7.9 billion from the federal budget and more than 1.6 billion from municipal road funds, Minister of Transport and Road Facilities of the Republic of Tatarstan Farit Khanifov said at a briefing in the House of Government of the Republic of Tatarstan. "This year has also been very significant for Tatarstan’s road sector. New roads were commissioned, for the first time a street and road network program was implemented on such a scale, new subprograms are appearing," he said. "In the road budget we always plan around 38–40 billion rubles. And depending on how the budget situation develops, we end up at not less than 70–80 billion rubles a year."

      According to the minister, the street and road network repair program became the most significant this year. More than 36.5 billion rubles were directed to it. Work was carried out at 757 sites.

      "Such a program will, without exception, affect all settlements in the republic. The program was unprecedented. And the positive feedback from the population probably exceeded the positive responses we received when commissioning major federal or regional roads, because this topic is close to every resident. Look — such roads are being laid in every settlement," he said.

      In addition, this year an extra 1 billion rubles was allocated to convert regional roads leading to settlements from dirt to transitional-type surfaces. "This is CSSM (crushed-stone and sand mixture). It is the basis so that later, when needed, asphalt can be laid on them immediately," the head of the ministry explained.

      Work was carried out on 15 sites with a total length of more than 37 km in 14 municipalities. "There are still quite a few such settlements in the republic — about 500. At the start of this program around 500 km of our regional roads were unpaved. The process has begun. I hope this program will continue to develop. It is encouraging that as soon as a crushed-stone road reaches a village, active residential construction begins there and plots are restored," Khanifov emphasized.

      "We are working to bring the republic’s road network up to standard"

      The cost of road works under the new national project "Infrastructure for Life" amounted to 14.2 billion rubles. Half of these funds were provided from the federal budget, the head of the Ministry of Transport said.

      "We are working to bring the republic’s road network up to standard. This project is operating across Russia. In Tatarstan the roads in the agglomerations and the main Russian network roads have almost reached the target indicators we must meet by 2030. Our task is not to let this indicator slip," he said.

      However, according to Khanifov, a lot of work remains to bring regional roads up to standard. "There are almost 14 thousand kilometers of them in the republic, of which today 52% are in standard condition. We will need to raise the rest," he stressed.

      In total, more than 200 km of regional and local roads have been repaired under the national project. In particular, 15.6 km of regional roads, 21.8 km in the Kazan agglomeration, 11.3 km in the Naberezhnye Chelny agglomeration, and about 3 km in the Nizhnekamsk agglomeration.

      Moreover, artificial structures located on 79 roads were built and capital-repaired for 8.9 billion rubles. Twenty-three bridges with a total length of over 1 km were repaired, and 16 new facilities were put into operation. "Seven facilities will be completed next year," the minister noted.

      A duplicate of the Orenburg Trakt is being built in Tatarstan

      Another outbound highway is being built in Tatarstan — a duplicate of the Orenburg Trakt. Its construction includes eight stages, Khanifov said.

      "This road section is a whole complex. The working name is the 'Laishyevsky junction.' We started with the seventh stage. That is the interchange on the Kazan–Orenburg route at Borovoe Matyushino. Traffic there has been opened," he said.

      According to the minister, construction is proceeding toward the village of Usady, where work has already begun. "We see the start of the Laishyevsky junction at the M12 interchange — the exit to the Stolbishche–Atabaevo road. At the end of 2024 and in 2025, the interchange was redesigned by the state company Avtodor. It was expanded and additional exits were added so that we could organize a four-lane exit from the Stolbishche side," he clarified.

      Khanifov added that the design of the second stage has been completed. "The project passed the examination, tenders were held. Work has begun," he emphasized.

      "We separate traffic flows to ensure road safety"

      This year 107.5 km of federal roads were reconstructed and built in Tatarstan. Currently, 77.6% of federal highways in the republic are in standard condition, said head of the Volgo-Vyatka Road Administration Ildar Mingazov.

      "Among the key projects is the reconstruction of the M7 'Volga' section from Naberezhnye Chelny to the border with the Republic of Bashkortostan, with a length of 96.5 km," he stressed.

      During the reconstruction of the section, the number of lanes was increased from two to four, 11 interchanges and overpasses were built, and six bridges were erected. "As a result of the works carried out, the main direction of the M7 now corresponds to category I B, and has four or six lanes," Mingazov noted.

      He recalled that in October traffic was opened on a new alignment of the Kazan–Orenburg road — the bypass of the village of Sokury. The major repair of the Kazan–Orenburg section from kilometer 43 to 53, where the carriageway was widened from two to four lanes, will be completed in a few days, the head of the department reported.

      "And after the reconstruction of the section from kilometer 30 to 43 is completed, the road from Kazan to the village of Smoldeyarovo in the Laishevsky district will become four lanes. We separate flows to ensure road safety," he added.

      According to Mingazov, the road lighting program is also a priority. Already 256 million rubles have been allocated for 2026–2027 to equip lighting at stops, pedestrian crossings, and accident-prone sections with high traffic intensity. For example, it is planned to install luminaires on the M7 from Kazan to the village of Shali and on some sections of the Kazan–Orenburg road.

      "A record volume of road work this year was carried out in the city's residential areas"

      In Kazan more than 21.5 billion rubles were allocated this year for road repairs and yard improvements. More than 1.7 billion rubles of that went to road and bridge repairs under the national project "Infrastructure for Life," said deputy head of Kazan’s executive committee Igor Kulyazhev.

      "Under the national project, 12 road sections with a total length of about 7 km were repaired. Thanks to the consistent implementation of this project, over 85% of Kazan’s roads are in standard condition," he reported.

      Kulyazhev added that 3 billion rubles were allocated for road repairs in Kazan’s residential areas, 6.4 billion rubles for repairs of the street and road network and intra-block driveways, and more than 4.2 billion rubles for the 'Our Yard' program.

      "As part of the street and road network repairs, 22 road sections covering an area of over 150,000 sq. meters were repaired. As for the repair of intra-block driveways, 68 sections were repaired at a cost of 1 billion rubles," he noted.

      Kulyazhev emphasized that a record volume of road work this year was carried out in the city’s residential areas. By the decision of the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, 2 billion rubles were allocated for repairs. In total, 91 sections in 40 settlements were repaired.

      "At the same time, we see a high demand from residents of settlements for road repairs, so village roads were included in other road work programs as well. In total it was possible to repair 102 streets for 3 billion rubles, where the road surface wear exceeded 90% or it was completely absent. We hope to continue implementing this program because it is in demand," concluded the head of the executive committee.

      Photo: © Sultan Iskhakov / Tatar-inform