The worst road for motorists in Russia runs along the left bank of the Volga. This is a section of the R-229 index. More specifically, the territory of the Saratov region. “The apogee of all this is in Pugachev,” a tourist said on the Yandex.Zen channel and in one of his publications called it the terribly stable track of the country.
The traveler, who practically traveled all over Russia by car, saw a different state of road surfaces. At the same time, their quality has generally improved over the twenty years. However, for at least 13 years, one long section of the motorway has stood untouched: bridges in a deplorable state, pit after pit everywhere.
“This road goes along the left bank of the Volga from Samara to Saratov, good smooth asphalt ends as soon as the Saratov region begins. I don’t know whether the road was never made there at all, or whether the place is cursed and the new asphalt does not take root there. In the spring there are terrible cracks and potholes, and in the summer the asphalt melts so that terrible deep ruts are created, where cars even strike the bottom. The apogee of all this is in Pugachev. I can’t imagine how the locals live there and drive their cars every day,” the traveler was indignant.
Let’s add that the route with the R-229 index “Samara-Pugachev-Engels-Volgograd”, 696.9 km long, has from two to four traffic lanes depending on the sections and passes through the territory of three regions – Samara, Saratov and Volgograd regions. At the same time, in the Saratov and Volgograd regions, there has been no major overhaul of the road surface for a very long time, with the exception of some sections. That's why it doesn't meet the standards and so irritates autotourists.
Note that almost two years earlier, the track changed its owner and passed into the status of a federal one. It was expected that the quality of the road would be brought to a higher level, but there are no noticeable changes yet.
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