Traffic Police Consider Raise In Speed Limit on Highways
In safe conditions faster driving may be permitted on toll roads.
Published: April 17, 2013 (Issue # 1755)
MOSCOW — The traffic police is considering raising the speed limit to 130 kilometers per hour on some roads in the country.
Viktor Nilov, head of Russia’s traffic police, said he was weighing the increase after receiving a request from road construction and maintenance officials to allow cars to travel faster on toll roads if the road conditions allowed it.
“We are considering the proposal,” Nilov said in an interview with Interfax.
The traffic police prepared a draft revision of road rules earlier this month, and a copy of it has been published on the Interior Ministry’s website. The draft highlights that the speed limit can be increased only if the road conditions are safe.
Russia’s first toll road is the 650km-long M11 highway, which will link Moscow with St. Petersburg. The first stretch of the road is expected to open this year.
Currently, the top speed allowed on roads around St. Petersburg is around 100 kilometers per hour, although drivers are known to travel at 120 km/h and faster on the city’s Ring Road.