Road conditions in Russia

[happiness]

Has anyone paid the $25 fee to look at the road conditions report for Russia?

http://www.asirt.org/Home/tabid/104/Default.aspx

Although I know not many western people drive once in Russia, we do take taxi's to a lot of places.  It would be nice to know the risks of taking a taxi versus the bus or subway.

[William3rd]

Russian road conditions are an experience. Look for a lot of pot holes and degraded roads around rail lines. We have a much better road system than they do. The Russians do not seem to spend the money on the transportation infrastructure that we do.

In St. Petersburg, the problem is not the roads. It is the numbers of cars now on the roads. There is no way to widen roads that were laid out in the 1700s without tearing down most of the city's housing.

However, the road system is better than many places that I have traveled to.

I dont think I would waste 25 dollars to look.

[Rvrwind]

Roads!! ??? What Roads??? We have roads here??? ???
Oh right, thats that smooth part between the potholes & the gravel!!!
Had me worried for a minute there, thought I'd missed something.

[Phil dAmore]

The road conditions should be the least of your concerns.  What should be of greater concern is  the drivers on those roads.  As near as I can tell, it's pretty much every driver for themself.  Traffic regulation where it does exist is largely suggestive in nature.  

The Russian driver seems to know only how to use the horn and step on the gas.  The concept of 'yeilding' seems to be an unknown to them.  

Because pretty much every car in Russia is a taxi it's hard to say if this is a safer option than buses.  I have seen many, many vehicles that are not suitable for use on a farm, much less a public roadway.  As for your driver.. well maybe he is a good driver and maybe he isn't.  

I'm relatively fearless when it comes to riding in most vehicles but there are some people I simply will NOT ride with because they are far too aggressive or have an unreasonable amount of confidence in their vehicles.  I've seen a lot of crashed Ladas.  They fold up like an accordian when they hit each other.  A Lada vs... just about anything else, and you get taken away in a body bag.

Buses aren't much better in terms of physical condition, but at least they have a large amount of bulk to protect you in the event of a crash.  Bus drivers MUST blow into a breathalyzer before beginning work each day and ANY positive reading gets them sent home for the day.  Of course they still have to work a 12 hour shift with no breaks so although they may be sober they can be tired.

The taxi-buses are where you face the greatest risk IMO.  While many drivers are decent, I've had more than a few who drove like the devil was on their tail.  The average taxi-bus holds 15 people, but it's not unusual for 20 or more to cram inside.  This tends to make them unstable while cornering.  They are also prone to overheating and  electrical fires.  Here too, drivers work 12 or more hours a day.  Vehicle maintenance is obviously not in the drivers job description because many of them are literally falling apart, or have exhaust leaks, or water leaks.  The heaters work well though.

On the metro you don't have to worry about accidents so much, but even here you face some potential problems although they are mostly related to overcrowding and pickpockets.

Probably the safest bet would be to use a licensed, metered taxi when you need ground transportation.  The cars are clean and well maintained... but it's gonna cost you.

The pedestrian also faces a number of safety issues.  Do not assume simply because you are in the crosswalk and you have the 'walk' signal that a Russian driver will stop for you, particularly if it's not a Russian car coming at you.  As a rule, the more expensive the car the less likely it will be that they will stop for you.  Many will speed up just to watch you sprint across the street.

[Markus]

I think that some of the RM that I have ridden with should be racing. It always amazes me how some of those guys can go so fast, and dodge the pot holes. I like the entertainment. But, I have seen some roads so bad that just walking down them is an effort dodging the mud and water (In April). And I guess it depends where you go. In Moscow, I was mostly in the city and the were fine. But, in Ekaterinburg on some of the side roads, there are some big holes. I can imagine what the side roads look like in some of the smaller cities.

Mark

[Simoni]

Roads!! ??? What Roads??? We have roads here??? ???
Oh right, thats that smooth part between the potholes & the gravel!!!
Had me worried for a minute there, thought I'd missed something.

Ha, ha!  Right, RV.  And Happiness, you can ask Bruce about his experience on the road from Moscow to Tver last summer...driver beware!

[WmGO]

Well this was a long time ago, I am thinking either 2002 or 2003, when I drove around Moscow then on the Ring Road out to Kolomna which is about a two hour drive southeast of Moscow once you get off the Ring Road....and I was surprised at how good the roads were even out in the boonies. The Russian countryside was beautiful........now I am trying to remember if the Ring Road is the outermost ring or the inner ring.....I am trying to refer to that outermost ring which is just like an American interstate with similar exits.......

[I/O]

Gaaaaaaawwwwwwwd you blokes...!!!  Where's ya sense of adventure?  Who was it way back when that said the two things wrong with Russia are "Roads and Fools"?  Maybe that's why I like the place, our roads in places are not much better and as for the other.........go figure.

I/O

[Jet]

The road conditions should be the least of your concerns.  What should be of greater concern is  the drivers on those roads.  As near as I can tell, it's pretty much every driver for themself.  Traffic regulation where it does exist is largely suggestive in nature. 

In my wife's hometown there is a main road with a double yellow line down the center. At any given moment it could be anywhere from a two to a five lane one-way or two-way thoroughfare. Speed limit is anywhere from 20 to 110 mph depending on time of day and weather conditions.

"Suggestive" is definitely the key word in the quoted sentence!  Feelin' lucky?

[SANDRO43]

Reminder of a thread from last year : http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=2738.0.

[Kuna]

Great photo Sandro... very funny!

[SANDRO43]

Great photo Sandro... very funny!

IMO, Durk's rejoinder (Sandro, that is the depth of the mud in centimeters), not a speed limit, was even funnier .

[Gator]

I thought the roads outside of Kiev were fantastic, especially the one to Odessa. 

[mev]

There are multiple ways to look at statistics: per capita: http://www.driveandstayalive.com/info%20section/statistics/stats-multicountry-percapita-2004.htm  Russia looks more dangerous than Ukraine or the USA - though this statistic seems suspect when countries such as India are lower per capita.

I bicycled ~2600km through parts of Ukraine and Russia in 2006: http://www.bikerussia.com/2006ua.  My perceptions from areas I cycled include:

(1) Road conditions were highly variable, some wonderful roads to be found in both countries and some much worse than US or Western Europe.  As a bicyclist, on average, I found roads better in Russia than Ukraine - and roughly comparable to Poland, and better than India or China.  For example, some of the major motorways smooth and similar to US and others narrow with lots of trucks and deteriorating shoulders.  Some of the small roads with many potholes, or cracks in concrete highways with others smoothly surfaces.

(2) Around large urban areas (e.g. Kyiv, St Petersburg, oblast capitols), roads good with mixture of potholes or cobblestones.  However, the issue here is large numbers of automobiles and sometimes chaotic driving behaviors.  Watch out!, and do not assume the same "right of way" assumptions as in US.

(3) Passing one or more cars at once, much more common.  Watch out for oncoming traffic.

[Simoni]

There are multiple ways to look at statistics: per capita: http://www.driveandstayalive.com/info%20section/statistics/stats-multicountry-percapita-2004.htm  Russia looks more dangerous than Ukraine or the USA - though this statistic seems suspect when countries such as India are lower per capita.

I bicycled ~2600km through parts of Ukraine and Russia in 2006: http://www.bikerussia.com/2006ua.  My perceptions from areas I cycled include:

(1) Road conditions were highly variable, some wonderful roads to be found in both countries and some much worse than US or Western Europe.  As a bicyclist, on average, I found roads better in Russia than Ukraine - and roughly comparable to Poland, and better than India or China.  For example, some of the major motorways smooth and similar to US and others narrow with lots of trucks and deteriorating shoulders.  Some of the small roads with many potholes, or cracks in concrete highways with others smoothly surfaces.

(2) Around large urban areas (e.g. Kyiv, St Petersburg, oblast capitols), roads good with mixture of potholes or cobblestones.  However, the issue here is large numbers of automobiles and sometimes chaotic driving behaviors.  Watch out!, and do not assume the same "right of way" assumptions as in US.

(3) Passing one or more cars at once, much more common.  Watch out for oncoming traffic.

Welcome, Mev...and thanks for contributing with this great first post!

Your view of roads from your bike has to be the most authoritive source yet!  Thanks for sharing.

~Simoni

[Simoni]

Hey everyone... I just took a look at mev's link.... at http://www.bikerussia.com/2006ua

For a GREAT trip report {about the fsu countryside and cities}, it's a super read!  With pics, too 

Mev--please post in the introduction section and tell us more about yourself...

~Simoni