The quality of local roads directly impacts the social well-being and economic development of the Vitebsk region. Thanks to increased funding in 2022, the planned scope of current road repairs will be exceeded. However, due to investment limitations in previous years, the financial aspect remains crucial for the sector to catch up on overdue regulatory inter-repair periods.
Under these conditions, the primary objective for road management enterprises is to improve the transport and operational condition of local roads, ensuring transport links between district centres, access roads from district centres to agro-towns where rural councils of deputies are located, and further to the central estates of agricultural organisations, as well as from agro-towns to other settlements.
FINANCES – MORE AMPLE
As reported by the Committee for Architecture and Construction of the Regional Executive Committee, funding for measures under the State Programme "Roads of Belarus" for 2021-2025 has significantly increased this year. Thus, a total of 25.6 million rubles will be allocated from the regional budget, which is 35.4% more than in 2021. Additionally, in March, a decision was made to increase the profit tax rate by two percentage points, with additional budget revenues amounting to 11 million rubles also earmarked for local road repairs and bridge reconstruction. Another source is an intergovernmental transfer of 27.4 million rubles from the national budget. The total funding is estimated at 81.6 million rubles, which is 12.2% more than the amount planned for 2022.
As a result, over 8 months, current repairs have been carried out on local roads covering approximately 161 km, or 62.3% of the annual plan. Repair work on the roads of the Orsha district is already exceeding the target. In general, the financial support for the state programme in 2022 allows for the projection of achieving the target indicators set for the year, specialists noted. In particular, the growth rate of current repairs will be 106.2%, amounting to 274 km instead of 258 km.
In addition, road workers are set to reconstruct two bridge structures with a total length of 27 linear metres this year. These include the bridge over the Auta River in Miory District (on the Zautye – Klimyaty road, scheduled for early completion in autumn) and the bridge over a stream on the Polotsk – Ushachi road, which will be commissioned in the 4th quarter. Preparatory work will commence simultaneously on three more sites in Tolochin District (over the Sokolyanka River on the Orsha – Kokhanovo – Oboltsy road), Shumilino District (on the approach to the village of Sosnino), and Chashniki District (over the Essa River on the Lepel – Krasnoluki – Kholopenichi road). The inspection plan for this year covers 6 bridge structures (compared to 18 objects inspected in 2021). Incidentally, under the state program for the five-year period, a total of 8 bridge structures with a combined length of over 140 linear metres are planned for reconstruction (6 on republican roads and 2 on local roads).
An important aspect of maintaining transport and operational indicators is the maintenance of local roads. Over 8 months, 19.1 million rubles have been allocated for these purposes, representing 74.6% of the planned annual appropriations. Repair profiling has been carried out on 20.6 thousand km of gravel and dirt roads, 14.5 thousand km of road shoulders have been mowed, and 93.3 thousand sq. m of potholes have been eliminated. In close cooperation with district and village executive committees, councils of deputies, and housing and communal services, road workers have undertaken measures to combat Sosnowski's hogweed, which has been cleared from an area of 100.2 hectares against a plan of 75 hectares.
RISING PRICES
The significant material intensity of road works has a considerable impact on the performance of enterprises and the overall volume of road construction. The share of material resources in the cost of certain types of work exceeds 80%. The prices of bitumen, crushed stone, and diesel fuel are quite high and are constantly increasing, according to specialists. For example, from December 2020 to August 2022, the price of bitumen increased by almost 2.5 times, diesel fuel by approximately 40%, and dolomite crushed stone by 22.7%. Furthermore, materials are supplied on a full prepayment basis. Undoubtedly, these factors lead to an increase in the cost of works, and consequently, their volume decreases.
Against the backdrop of significant investment support for works in 2022, the financial difficulties of previous years cannot be overlooked. The length of local roads with overdue inter-repair periods exceeds 14 thousand km, or 93.7% of their total length. Therefore, the implementation of the state program will improve the qualitative characteristics of only individual roads, but significantly larger financial resources are required to solve the problem of road conditions as a whole: according to specialists' estimates, 24.2 million rubles are needed for current road repairs and bridge reconstruction alone to meet the planned targets for 2021-2023.
In 2022, it is planned to repair 389 km of republican and local roads in the Vitebsk region, as well as to commission 8 bridge structures after reconstruction and major repairs.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by
