Neva to be unloaded by alternate route
Leningrad region Government plans to work out a strategy for transport complex development till 2020. The regional strategy in the context of the RF Transport Strategy envisages implementation of a number of long-term projects anyway related to St. Petersburg. In case of the strategy successful implementation, Leningrad region will have at least two encircling highways and Neva will get an alternate route.
Canal variants
The competition for the strategy development is to be announced in August of the current year. On July 28, two variants of alternate routes for Neva will be presented at an exhibition in the Leningrad region Committee on Architecture and City Planning. The idea to build a navigation canal parallel to Neva appeared 10 years ago. At that time there were five variants of the route proposed by Russian Research and Design Institute of urban development. The most reasonable was the variant involving the Karelian Isthmus, Vuoksa river and the lakes of the Leningrad region: Sukhodolskoye, Makarovskoye, Sokolinoye and Krasnokholmskoye. However, experts considered this project to be too costly due to shallowness of Vuoksa river. Besides, ecologists saw significant risks for local nature.
As Valery Kim, Chairman of the Leningrad region Committee on Architecture and City Planning, told the Council on Maritime Activities at the meeting held July 22, today the Leningrad region Government tends towards the variant involving the southern and eastern districts of the region: Svir, Volkhov, Tigoda and Luga rivers within Podporozhje, Slantsy and Volosovo districts.
According to Valery Serdyuko, Governor of the Leningrad region, implementation of this project will ensure safe navigation along Neva and prevent its further pollution.
Regional opportunities
About one forth of Russia’s total cargo turnover is implemented through the territory of the Leningrad region. In 2007, the volume of cargo handled in the region exceeded 99 million tonnes. For the recent 7 years, the volume of transport services in the Leningrad region grew 27 times while the revenue from this activities account for over 10% of the regional budget. According to Mr. Serdyukov, the region is rapidly turning into “sea gates of Russia to the European Union”. “Just 8 years age there were no ports in Primorsk or Ust-Luga and the existing complexes were actually out of operation,” the Governor noted.
Today, the capacity of the main water transport route in St. Petersburg makes 26-27 vessels per day. Every year ship owners loose tens millions of dollars because of downtime caused by traffic jams at Neva. However, the project opponents say Neva’s navigation capacity is not exhausted yet.
Second Neva
If the idea of the “second Neva” is implemented, the canal will run across the territory of three southern districts of the region. The canal’s planned width some 80- meters, which is twice as much as the distance between the bridge pillars at Neva. The canal is to be about 300 kilometers long.
According to Evgeni Zubarev, advisor to a head of North Western Shipping Company OJSC, the idea of an alternate route is not economically reasonable. “The canal will be probably a paid route,” Zubarev supposes, - and with growing transportation costs and time delivery there may be no demand for it.” Besides, the project does not take into account the shippers’ opinion. "No proofs of profitability for carriers were presented. A feasibility study is required," Zubarev said.