Options for a highway bypassing the Caspian Sea are being considered
Russia is considering options for building a highway that will encircle the Caspian Sea and connect the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan, Vyacheslav Petushenko, head of the Russian “Avtodor” Corporation, said at SPIEF-2023.
According to the top manager, the designers are considering two options for passing the future highway: the western one, through Dagestan, and the eastern one, through Kazakhstan.
“We are considering either a western or an eastern bypass in a large community. We are discussing at the site of the government of the Russian Federation. Here you need to understand how freight and rail transport is involved. We have studies of both the western and eastern bypass of the Caspian,” Petushenko said.
At the same time, the head of “Avtodor” added that at the moment both versions of the route bypassing the Caspian Sea are still at the pre-project stage. The final decision on the construction of the route has not yet been made.
The idea to build a continuous highway bypassing the Caspian Sea was announced in January 2023 after the visit of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin to Turkmenistan.
The Caspian route is supposed to be integrated with another promising project, the South-Western Chord, which, in turn, is considered in conjunction with the Meridian route. This route should provide road communication with China as part of Beijing's mega-project "One Belt - One Road".
Earlier, “Avtodor” stated that they wanted to direct the Meridian highway, which was planned as a route from Europe to China, towards the Caspian Sea.
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