Thirty-year-old plans to free Kyiv from heavy traffic have been dusted off yet again.
On May 28, the international arm of U.S. construction titan, Bechtel Overseas Corporation, signed a memorandum of understanding with state road agency Ukravtodor to build 150 kilometers of roads around Kyiv.
Plans for bypass roads around the capital have been in the works since Ukraine gained independence. Ideas for a beltway around Kyiv were publicized in 2006. But in the absence of political will and resources, nothing ever came from them.
That is until Ukravtodor revived the plans last year, as part of Zelensky’s ‘Big Construction’ initiative to rebuild and repair nearly 30,000 kilometers of state roads by 2024, attracting the attention of one of the largest construction companies in the world.
Bechtel Overseas Corporation is the largest construction company in the U.S., with projects in 160 countries on seven continents. While Bechtel has been involved in restoring Chornobyl’s infrastructure, this is the first time it has expressed interest in Ukraine’s road sector.
“Bechtel is a serious company with a lot of experience, it’s an opportunity to get really good financing for this project,” says Marko Bachmaha, deputy director of state enterprise Ukrdorinvest.
Ukravtodor is proposing to build a half-ring of highways around the capital, intended to “solve painful transport problems in Kyiv and improve international highway traffic,” the Ministry of Infrastructure said, citing its new minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Traffic in the capital ranks seventh among 416 most traffic-congested cities in the world, according to a TomTom Traffic Index report.
Bachmaha says that the project would also help regional suburbs and small towns develop.
Ukravtodor has divided the project into six sections. Three are already in the design stage. The agency plans to start with the easiest roads, which are not close to rivers, and work its way up to the most difficult, a 25-kilometer segment that includes a six-kilometer bridge over the Dnipro.
While the plans are enjoying another moment in the spotlight, the memorandum is a signal of intent, not a binding contract.
“We would really like this to actually happen, but this is just the first step. It’s just a memorandum of cooperation. Of course it’s an important step because it confirms there is interest there to do the project,” says Bachmaha.
In the meantime, a lot of groundwork is required before anyone enters any agreement. Feasibility studies are required for each road section, which can take months. Designing these projects involves several different components from land procurement to engineering and involves many different actors.
As to when construction will begin or how much it will cost, no one seems interested in speculating. Bachmaha says state agencies hope to begin the tender process for the first section by the end of this year, but “project management is really hard and there are a lot of elements that go into it.”
