RUSSIA NEEDS ROADS

Taranaki Daily News, 19 July 1929, Page 3

RUSSIA NEEDS ROADS

HUGE COST OF TRANSPORT. It is stated that there are not 109 miles of smooth, paved road in the whole of Russia. The majority of the villages are on byways that are- impassable during two long periods .of the year—in the rain and, mud of autumn and the sloppy thaws of spring. In these seasons, thousands of villages are entirely cut off from their markets and, except for the radio, arc totally isolated. It is estimated that these conditions result in a loss of £200,000,000 annually. There appears to be a great deal of public interest in Russia's highway problems, but individul efforts to further them are retarded by obstacles that tie up governmental expenditures. A road congress met some time ago in Moscow, and a programme for the next five years was adopted, but actual construction is impeded by the inability of ~ the Government to supply the money. Some interesting facts were brought out. For instance, the cost of transporting grain by waggon for 100 kilometres on dirt roads amounts to 60 per cent, of the value of the load. Extending the figure into miles, for 100 miles by waggon on a dirt road in Russia, the cost of transport would equal the value of the load. Most of the Russian loads are dirt.

In the absence of paving, the roads of Russia are divided into dirt roads and “hard” roads, most of the latter being of cobblestone, and consequently uncomfortable for motor-car travel.

Accepting the figures presented at the road congress, there is only one-tenth of a kilometre of hard road in, Russia for every 100 square kilometres of territory. For the same area in America there are 62 kilometres of hard road, Great Britain 127, and France 115. Belgium, small as she is, and New Zealand each have more miles of good roads than Russia.

The programme drawn up at the congress calls for the expenditure of 1,500,000,000 roubles in the next five years. This would provide 2200 miles of smooth pavement, 3000 miles of cobblestone roads, and 10,000 miles of gravel roads. It may be added that for its size and population Russia is practically without motor-car or motor-lorry transport.