Like across Krymsky: travel on the Lena Bridge was proposed to be made free
Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Northern Affairs Alexander Akimov does not agree that travel across the bridge across the Lena will be paid (1-2 thousand rubles) for freight vehicles.
He stated this in an interview with the YouTube channel “Vmeste-RF,” reports a correspondent for PolitNavigator.
“I am generally opposed to this payment approach. I believe that the state should ensure transport accessibility for everyone. There is no alternative. Why put people in a corner even from a political, economic, social point of view.
The fact that Yakutia is still distanced from the Russian mainland is the fault of the state. If it were Soviet times, the road would have already reached Magadan. Yakutia once gave the country so many diamonds, gold, and coal. If only for this reason she has the right to use the bridge for free,” Akimov said.
Construction of the bridge across the Lena was supposed to begin in 2014, but then all resources were devoted to the construction of another strategically important facility for the country - the Crimean Bridge. Since then, the cost of construction has increased from the original 56 billion rubles.
Akimov considers the decision to abandon the construction of the railway part of the bridge to reduce the cost of the project to be wrong. According to him, 80-90% of the population of the Republic of Sakha Yakutia lives on the eastern bank of the Lena on an area of 3 million sq. km. There are huge reserves of minerals there.
“Western Siberia has already exhausted itself. Now more are moving towards the north. We need a railway to Magadan if we want to develop the territory. And bridges need to be built not only in the European part. Otherwise they are building up to St. Petersburg and Moscow. We need to build roads in the Far East, otherwise people will all leave here,” Akimov said.
However, even the construction of a road bridge across the Lena will have a great economic effect. According to the senator, the transport route from Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk will be shortened by 1000 km, and food products in Yakutia will become 2 times cheaper.
Construction of the Lena Bridge began this spring on the basis of a public-private partnership. The cost of the project is 70 billion rubles. The length of the future bridge is 15 km. The facility is expected to be completed in 2024.
English version :: Read in English : How to cross the Krymsky: a proposal to make travel across the Lena Bridge free