When will the bridge to Crimea be built? When will the bridge to Crimea be opened for trains? When will the new bridge to Crimea be opened?

The bridge across the Kerch Strait, which will connect Crimea with the Russian mainland, is the most anticipated and largest-scale project in the country in recent decades. A lot of people are watching such a grandiose event, and it is important for them to know when the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait will be opened for cars and rail transport.

A modern crossing - the Crimean Bridge will give tourists from the mainland the opportunity to use more convenient transport than a ferry. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about when the building is planned to be put into operation.

When will the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait be opened for cars: many expect the opening of the crossing this spring

In his message to the Federal Assembly, the president said that vehicular traffic on the new bridge will be open in a few months.

It was previously reported that the bridge will be opened in December 2018 for cars, and by the end of 2019 - for railway transport.

However, many have speculated that the bridge could be opened as early as the May holidays of 2018, or at the beginning of the tourist season.

Rosavtodor also notes that according to the draft state contract, which the agency intends to conclude with the contractor for the maintenance of the crossing and approaches to it, the opening of the Crimean Bridge will occur ahead of schedule. Indeed, in the notice of government procurement of contractor services, posted on February 28, the specified contract date is May 1, 2018.

The new crossing, the length of which will be a leading figure in the country - 19 km, will have 4 wide lanes for vehicle traffic, which will allow you to travel through the Kerch Strait in just 10 minutes.

The opening of the crossing is expected not only by Russian tourists who want a more comfortable way to get to Crimea, but also by the authorities of the peninsula, who associate a significant increase in the flow of vacationers with this event.

When will the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait be opened for cars: Kuban and the capital of Crimea will be connected by a new federal highway

In addition to the “Construction of the Century,” as the construction of the Kerch Bridge is called, another large-scale project will be launched on the peninsula, which will bring the road surface in Crimea to the appropriate level. This is the Tavrida highway - a federal road that will cross the territory of the peninsula in the direction of Kerch-Simferopol-Sevastopol. The road will connect Crimea with Kuban through the Kerch crossing.

The length of the road will reach more than 250 km. Almost 40 thousand cars per day will be able to move along it. The 1st category road will be built remotely from coastal cities, along existing routes, as well as with the construction of new sections. The estimated speed for two lanes in each direction is 120 km per hour.

Construction is ongoing around the clock, and traffic on the new highway will be launched simultaneously with traffic on the Crimean Bridge. Completion of all construction work at the site is planned for 2020. Experts note that there are no roads of similar quality in mainland Russia yet.

When will the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait be opened for cars: the new airport will make holidays in Crimea even more accessible

The purpose of "Tavrida" was not only to connect the bridge with the capital of the peninsula, but also to provide access roads to the new air terminal - "Crimean Wave".

The airport owes its name to its unique wave-shaped façade – a true miracle of architectural and engineering thought. However, all the charms of the object do not end there.

The terminal will be able to accommodate more than 6.5 million passengers per year. Its area is 78 thousand m2, which is comparable to 10 football fields. The spacious, bright halls will be decorated with the largest green wall in Russia and Europe. The terminal will also have prayer halls for Muslims and Orthodox believers.

The main advantage of the airport complex will be comfort and infrastructure created with the latest technology. For the technical equipment of the airport - lighting, air conditioning, energy consumption, water supply, etc. a single automatic system will respond. All equipment was created by domestic manufacturers.

Construction of the “Crimean Wave”, which will become the main air gateway of the peninsula, began only 2 years ago, and will be completed within a couple of months.

Russia announced that it plans to put into operation the road part of the Crimean Bridge significantly ahead of schedule. Instead of the end of 2018, traffic on the bridge will be opened in May: to achieve this task, traffic will be organized in stages. An exception is provided for freight and technological transport involved in the construction of the railway part of the Crimean Bridge. Construction vehicles will be able to move across the Crimean Bridge immediately after the opening of its road part.

According to a message on the department’s website, the decision is due to the optimization of logistics flows during the peak summer season to reduce the load on the road network of the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas. Earlier, President Vladimir asked road workers about the possibility of launching the bridge specifically for the May holidays.

In particular, it is planned that in May a through passage will be provided on the 40-kilometer road approach from the Taman coast (from the existing federal highway A-290 to the Crimean Bridge), without putting into operation transport interchanges with the local road network. At the same time, on the Crimean side, the auto approach from the Crimean Bridge to the interchange with the Tavrida highway will be ready for the opening of traffic in operating mode. Further traffic will go along two lanes of the existing Kerch - Simferopol road.

By the end of 2018, two new Tavrida lanes to Simferopol should be ready, and auto approaches to the Crimean Bridge will be fully introduced, which will allow temporary restrictions on the movement of freight transport along the route across the Kerch Strait to be lifted.

The automobile approach to the transport crossing through the Kerch Strait from the Crimea is one of the key elements of the peninsula’s transport system being created. The auto approach will connect the Crimean Bridge with the Tavrida highway, providing the possibility of movement for all vehicles heading through the Kerch Strait and back to the mainland.

As the State Road Committee of Crimea clarified, the automobile approach is a four-lane road of the 1st technical category. The length of the auto approach is 8.6 km. It includes three artificial structures and one transport interchange, the readiness of which ranges from 30 to 82%.

Preparatory work for the construction of the auto approach began in December 2016. Currently, the embankment of the main road bed is 93% complete, the top layer of the base is 88% complete, and the bottom layer of the covering is about 80%. 7 km of 4-lane asphalt was laid on the road approach.

The overall readiness of the facility is 80%.

The opening of work traffic will be synchronized with the opening of automobile traffic on the Crimean Bridge. The facility will be fully operational at the end of the year.

Let us recall that on Wednesday, March 14, Putin, during his visit to the Krasnodar Territory and Crimea, visited the construction site for the construction of the automobile part of the bridge. He said that what he saw was impressive.

“It’s just a unique structure, not only for our country, but also, I think, there are few analogues like it in the world.

I was just now told how it was necessary to fit within these 72 hours in order to put the anchor in its place. Hard work. I congratulate you on this stage. I hope that everything will be completed as expected, on time and maybe even ahead of schedule and with high quality. Great, just well done! I would like to wish you success,” the head of state added.

He asked the builders whether it was now possible to drive along this route from coast to coast, to which he received an affirmative answer.

“All that remains is to retrofit, as I understand it, the highway, to complete the markings, to lay asphalt concrete. This is no longer the most difficult work,” Putin added.

In addition, Putin noted that the construction of a bridge to Crimea was thought about back in tsarist times.

Let us remind you that the bridge across the Kerch Strait, which is called the Crimean Strait, is indeed the longest in Europe, its length will be 19 kilometers. Capacity - 40 thousand cars and 47 pairs of trains per day, 14 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo per year.

The road and railway parts are being built in parallel; the opening of the latter for train traffic is scheduled for early 2019. The bridge begins on the Taman Peninsula, runs along a five-kilometer dam and the island of Tuzla, crosses the Kerch Strait and reaches the coast of Crimea.

In the coming years, the Tavrida expressway will be built from the bridge, which will allow motorists to quickly get from the strait to Simferopol and Sevastopol.

Traffic on the automobile part of the Crimean Bridge will be launched in May 2018. This was reported by the Russian Ministry of Transport. The department noted that the bridge will be closed to freight transport for the first few months - the entire automobile part will be put into operation according to plan, in December. In early March, Vladimir Putin visited the construction site. He noted that the bridge across the Kerch Strait will give an additional impetus to the development of the Crimean Peninsula.

The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation reported that the launch of traffic on the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait will take place in two stages. This scheme is due to the fact that the builders plan to put the road part of the Crimean Bridge into operation “significantly ahead of schedule” - in May 2018.

“At the first stage - immediately after the bridge is commissioned - the passage will be open to passenger vehicles and buses providing passenger transportation. The opening of traffic for freight transport is planned at the second stage - at the end of 2018, as planned in the original schedules,” the ministry’s website reports.

At the same time, freight transport that takes part in the construction of the railway part of the bridge will be able to move along the road immediately after its opening. As the department explained, the gradual launch of traffic should optimize traffic flows during the “peak summer season.”

“It is planned that in May, through traffic will be provided on the 40-kilometer road approach from the Taman coast (from the existing federal highway A-290 to the Crimean Bridge), without putting into operation transport interchanges with the local road network. At the same time, on the Crimean side, the auto approach from the Crimean Bridge to the interchange with the Tavrida highway will be ready for the opening of traffic in operating mode. Further traffic will go along two lanes of the existing Kerch-Simferopol road,” the Ministry of Transport explained.

In addition, by the end of 2018, two new Tavrida lanes should be ready (the Kerch - Simferopol - Sevastopol highway), and the auto approaches to the Crimean Bridge should also be fully operational.

The bridge across the Kerch Strait, which will connect Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory, will be the longest in Russia: its length will be 19 km. The start of vehicle traffic on the bridge was initially planned for the end of 2018. However, the builders said that they are ahead of the curve and plan to open the passage in May. Construction has been underway since February 2016; car traffic was scheduled to open in December 2018, and train traffic at the end of 2019.

New impulse

At the beginning of March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the construction site. He assessed the progress of work and expressed the wish that people could start using the bridge in the summer of 2018.

“I would like, of course, that people could already use it in the summer season,” noted the head of the Russian state.

He also called the structure unique and impressive and expressed hope that the bridge will be ready on time or “even ahead of schedule.”

“All that remains is to retrofit, I understand, the highway, make markings there, lay asphalt concrete - this is no longer the most difficult work,” Putin said in early March, emphasizing that the launch of the movement “will give impetus to the development of Crimea and the entire Russian Black Sea region.”

According to the President of the Russian Federation, as soon as this project is implemented, life on the peninsula will change significantly - “and cargo will be easier to deliver, and communication will be simpler.”

Let us recall that at the end of February 2018, the Russian government supplemented the list of federal highways by including the route Krasnodar - Slavyansk-on-Kuban - Temryuk - highway A-290 "Novorossiysk - Kerch". This step, according to the country's leadership, will improve the level of road maintenance, traffic safety, and will open up the prospect of implementing work on further expansion, taking into account the reconstruction of existing bottlenecks.

Reunification with Russia

The need to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait arose after the reunification of Crimea with Russia. Before this, the peninsula could only be reached by land through the territory of Ukraine. On March 19, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin set the Ministry of Transport the task of building road and railway bridges across the Kerch Strait.

The decision to build was made the day after the peninsula first celebrated the Day of Reunification of Crimea with Russia. It was on March 18, 2014 that the President of Russia and the leadership of Sevastopol, on the basis of a referendum held in Crimea, signed an agreement on the entry of this territory into the Russian Federation. In 2018, the fourth anniversary of this event was celebrated.

The West still does not recognize the legality of Russia’s reunification with the peninsula. The State Department condemned the president's March trip to the peninsula, saying that Moscow was violating the sovereignty of Ukraine.

The Russian Embassy in the United States called the State Department's statements an attempt to influence the internal political situation in Russia. Diplomats again recalled that four years ago the Crimeans, in a truly democratic way - through a referendum - corrected a historical injustice (the peninsula was illegally transferred to Soviet Ukraine in 1954).

The vote, which took place on March 16, 2014, took place in accordance with the UN Charter and the 1970 Declaration of Principles of International Law, which enshrines the right to self-determination, including “free accession to or association with an independent State.” At the same time, more than 90% of the inhabitants of the peninsula were in favor of joining Russia.

Traffic on the bridge across the Kerch Strait may be opened in May of this year. Rosavtodor is already planning to conclude a contract for the maintenance of access roads and the bridge itself.

The state contract implies the maintenance of existing roads, moreover, of federal importance, which specifically include the A-290 Novorossiysk - Kerch highway, as well as a transport bridge intended for the movement of motor vehicles and railway transport. The total contract amount is almost half a million rubles. The validity period begins on May 1 of the current year.

The management of Rosavtodor, when asked about the early opening of the Kerch Bridge, said that at the moment the progress of work is according to schedule, but in some areas there is a certain backlog. However, the department’s leadership did not announce specific dates.

The 19 km long bridge will connect Crimea with the Russian mainland.. rub. The contract for the construction of the Crimean Bridge specifies a different completion date - December 2018. According to the official website of the Crimean Bridge, “car traffic will open in December 2018, train traffic in 2019.” The head of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, previously said on the sidelines of the Sochi RBC forum that the opening date for the bridge “is still December 2018.”

It is worth noting that the deadline, which is presumably indicated in the government contract application, corresponds to the statement of President Vladimir Putin made on Thursday in his message to the Federal Assembly. The President noted in his speech that the bridge for vehicle traffic will be opened “in a few months.”

Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative in the Southern Federal District Vladimir Gurba confirmed in an interview that traffic on the bridge could begin as early as May.

The Crimean Bridge will be opened in a few months, President Putin said in his message to the Federal Assembly, thereby noting that the construction of the bridge is ahead of schedule.

The commissioning of the bridge will affect not only the life of Crimea, but also, in particular, will have a beneficial effect on the economy of Kerch. But it is this city that first welcomes travelers from the mainland of our country. The head of the Kerch administration, Sergei Borozdin, said this in an interview with the National News Service. He cited analytical forecasts to support his words.

Borozdin especially noted the fact that Ukrainian Kerch was an ordinary provincial city on the outskirts and was supplied with everything necessary according to the so-called residual principle. “By the way, this feeling of a dead end, as a resident of Kerch, I’ll say frankly, it has, unfortunately, been very deeply rooted in Kerch residents throughout the entire period of Ukrainization,” said the head of the city. “I see big tasks for the Kerch administration to create a new image of the city, to create a comfortable urban environment.”

The whole of Crimea is looking forward to the main event of the year - launch of the first part of the Construction of the Century. And the closer summer gets, the more often we are interested in the question: when will the Crimean Bridge, or rather its road part, open? In this article, we tried to collect all the useful and official information regarding the Construction of the Century, weed out myths, and also give our opinion on how the opening of the bridge will affect the lives of Crimeans.

Crimean Bridge - when will it open?

Around the end of April, we were already ready that the Bridge was about to be officially opened. First they talked about the May holidays, then about May 9 and the opening on Victory Day. However, these were all rather “popular speculations”; there were no official statements. The other day, a post appeared on the pages of the Crimean Bridge on social networks about myths about the Crimean Bridge, including opening dates.

As it turned out, the official opening is planned in the second half of May. In order to weed out existing myths and prevent future ones, we made a visual infographic about the planned opening dates of different parts of the bridge, including the road section.

Source: official page of the Crimean Bridge on Facebook.

Recently, new information appeared in the media about the opening of the Crimean Bridge May 15 or 16, 2018. The source of information is not named, but refers to reliable sources close to the Kremlin. It is also said that the opening of the bridge will definitely be attended by President Putin, on whose busy schedule the final date depends.

On May 14, it was finally officially announced - the Crimean Bridge opens “May 16th from 05:30 and forever! Traffic will begin simultaneously on both sides of the bridge - two lanes each with a maximum speed of 90 km/h, without stopping on the bridge. The day before, the Crimean Bridge will be officially opened by bridge builders - a column of construction equipment will be the first to cross the bridge.

Traffic diagram across the Crimean Bridge

The State Road Committee of Crimea has published traffic diagram across the Kerch Bridge, according to which cars and passenger buses can freely use the bridge, which cannot be said about trucks weighing more than 3.5 tons— they will have to use the ferry.

A detailed description of the approach to the bridge can be found on the website of the Ministry of Roads of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Source: gkdor.rk.gov.ru

Consequences of the opening of the Kerch Bridge

It was not without reason that the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait was dubbed the Construction of the Century. Firstly, the bridge will become the longest in Russia and one of the longest in Europe. Its length is 19 kilometers. Secondly, by connecting Crimea to the mainland, the bridge will make it possible to quickly and easily travel from the Russian mainland to Crimea and vice versa.

After the bridge is launched, experts predict general decline in prices in Crimea for consumer goods, gasoline and diesel fuel. The presence of the bridge will also have a beneficial effect on tourism on the peninsula, significantly facilitating the journey for guests in private cars and relieving the ferry crossing.