Roads: A new theme for Russian elections

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:

Road conditions really haven't been a common theme employed by those running for elective office in Russia. Russians often travel long distances via a highly developed network of railways and only in the past decade has car ownership soared, bringing changes to the way Russians travel long distances. Russia has no cross-country autobahn or interstate highway system and a trip from coast to coast is navigated mainly on secondary roads with many of them in deplorable condition.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGAqdgJKkH0[/youtube]

Promising to spend more than $285 Billion over the next years to build roads, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he is ready to tackle one of the most common frustrations of everyday Russians—the deplorable condition of the nations roadways. The Prime Minister announced that members of his All-Russia People’s Front would document a coast to coast car journey from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad, a trip spanning 8 times zones and over 7,000 kilometers from the Pacific to the Baltic Sea.
 
The issue of roads could be an important theme in the upcoming Duma elections and then the March 2012 presidential election given the explosion of car ownership in Russia over the last decade. Russia’s roads are notoriously bad and a popular proverb is there are two problems inside Russia: idiots and roads.
 
Meanwhile Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took another swipe at the Putin-era policy of appointing members of the Federation Council. Medvedev has used this year to hint at broad political reforms, many of them designed to undo policies enacted during the two terms Putin served at Russian President. While positioning the changes as gradual corrections to Russia’s political institutions, Medvedev again stressed that the political system in Russia was in need of reform.

Reports from around Russia’s ruling elite indicate that Medvedev will announce whether he will run for a second term during the United Russia party congress later this month.

[Chicagoguy]

For an interesting read try   Travels In Siberia
by Ian Frazier. A writer for The New Yorker magazine. He describes a road trip from St. Perersburg to Vladivastock.