Belarus plans to repair 7,000km of local roads within five years

MINSK, 17 August (BelTA) – Belarus plans to repair almost 7,000km of local roads as part of its five-year plan, Belarus’ Transport and Communications Minister Aleksei Avramenko said in a TV show, Conversation with the President, on Belarus 1, BelTA has learned.

According to Aleksei Avramenko, the head of state pays special attention to the development of local roads. “According to the five-year program, the plans are to repair 7,000km of local roads. On average, it is a little more than 1,000km annually. This is the main project to keep the local road network in good condition. Together with the Finance Ministry, we have additionally worked on attracting budgetary funds. It is about Br30 million, which will let us repair 1,000km of local roads by year-end. Of course, we would like to keep a higher pace, but this is the minimum that we have set,” he stressed.

The minister also named sections of the national highways, which are planned to be commissioned by the end of this year. In particular, he mentioned a project to reconstruct road R53 to Smolevichi. “It will be a new concrete road. We will also complete the reconstruction of the Slutsk-Soligorsk section of Minsk-Mikashevichi road R23,” said Aleksei Avramenko.

Reconstruction of bridges is also underway. About 13 large and more than a hundred smaller bridges are in the works.

“Further advancement on investment projects is also important for us. These include M3 highway Minsk-Vitebsk, R46 from Lepel to Polotsk with the construction of a bypass and a new bridge, M7 Minsk - Lithuanian border. These are the main projects with the relevant loan agreements signed with the European banks, and today we have to find other sources of funding for their implementation. The approximate amount is $0.5 billion,” the minister said.

There are almost 87,000km of roads in Belarus. Some 71,000km of them are local roads connecting more than 23,000 settlements. The density of public roads is one of the highest in the CIS.