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The Western High-Speed Diameter is a 46.6-kilometre road with a total length, including all exit and entry ramps and interchanges, of over 70 kilometres. It features 15 interchanges, and its width varies from four to eight lanes. The new road is expected to ease congestion in the historic centre of St Petersburg, the St Petersburg Ring Road and road network, enabling drivers to cross the city in less than 20 minutes.

The section of the Western High-Speed Diameter that was launched today links the southern and northern parts of the St Petersburg Ring Road, and provides a connection with the Scandinavia motorway. The northern and southern parts of the road are already in operation.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, I want to thank all of your teams, builders, engineers, and all those who participated in the construction effort. This is a big event not only for St Petersburg, but the entire northwest as well. I think you are well aware of it, because this expressway will connect the city’s business centres, and a huge number of vehicles will be able to bypass the historic centre.

Currently, the existing sections are used by 3 million vehicles a month. We just heard that after the central section opens to traffic, this number will increase to 6–7 million a month. Can you imagine the enormous number of vehicles which will go around the city centre? This will help preserve the historic centre, and will certainly improve the environmental situation and air quality.

Among other things, the economic component is very significant, because the expressway will help promote commercial activity in these city districts. Again, this is the largest public-private partnership project. It cost 210 billion rubles. Construction began in 2005 and is now complete. This is an important milestone for St Petersburg.

Thank you very much. Please accept my congratulations on this accomplishment. A big thank you goes to all the participants, including our friends from foreign companies. I hope you enjoyed working here, and we will think about doing more such projects in the future. Thank you.

Remark: We are proud to work here, with you, and for you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. I hope you enjoyed it. This is a beautiful, ambitious and modern project. It involved many specialists, including our major research centres and enterprises, which supplied all that was needed.

Remark: We hope we will have another chance after Pulkovo.

Vladimir Putin: Of course, you just need to talk with the people who are in charge of such projects. Perhaps you are aware of the plans that are being implemented here in the northwest, and our future plans. So, we will talk about them by all means, and continue to work.

Thank you very much. Good luck.

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