dpa
Moscow
After roughly 14 years of construction work, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most important infrastructure projects - a 670km roadway between Moscow and St Petersburg - is now open.
Putin inaugurated the last section of the motorway - a bypass around the provincial town of Tver - by driving a Russian-produced Lada Aura car.
The last section to be built includes a 738-metre long bridge that spans the upper reaches of the Volga River.
The plans to relieve the old route between Russia’s most important cities go back a long way. The route passed through many villages and was only partially developed as a motorway. Putin ordered the new motorway to be built in 2004 and construction of the first section began in 2010.
But it’s not free. Drivers will have to pay a toll nearly everywhere on the new M-11 motorway. The most expensive is the first section from Moscow to the Sheremetyevo Airport, which costs 795 roubles ($9).
