Route p21 reviews. Federal Highway M18 "Kola

The journey beyond the Arctic Circle, to the shores of the Barents Sea, began for us on Monday, June 23, in St. Petersburg. Having successfully guessed the time to arrive at the intermediate point of the expedition, the capital of Karelia - Petrozavodsk, by the end, we set off and ... immediately got into the tail of an impressive traffic jam, which took us almost three hours of precious time. At the same time, it began to rain, making standing in a traffic jam completely bleak, and we were consoled only by the fact that it was a good omen to leave in such weather.

Murmansk highway or the R-21 "Kola" highway, as it turned out, the road is very busy even on a weekday evening. Traffic in both directions is quite dense, which makes you “crawl” for a long time after some slow-moving truck or a 50-year-old Moskvich loaded with seedlings. It becomes more or less free on the highway around the turn to Shlisselburg, however, and then there are extended sections of the “no overtaking” sign, on which from time to time small caravans gather from those who are lucky enough to catch up with another slug.

Having refueled and had a quick snack on the way out of St. Petersburg, we did not really think about gasoline, but gas stations came across with enviable regularity. However, some danger may lurk here for residents of the capitals - there are almost no stations of popular brands on the highway, and people who are used to refueling from global network operators can pass more and more new pumps with names unknown outside of Karelia and the Leningrad region over and over again. An unpleasant surprise awaits them - the last 150 kilometers to Petrozavodsk are completely devoid of any infrastructure and delight travelers only with the beauty of roadside landscapes.

However, one gas station at the exit from the metropolis was enough for us all the way to Petrozavodsk. Having escaped from under the black rain clouds surrounding St. Petersburg, we ended up on the sunny highway P-21 "Kola", the state of which, by and large, can be assessed as at least a five along its entire length. Of course, in some places there were also local bumps, in some places there was no marking, but the roadbed itself always made it possible to drive quickly and at the same time calmly.

The excellent condition of the road, in fact, is fraught with danger of a different kind. It is very easy to think and significantly exceed the speed limit here. However, the main thing is to observe the speed limit in settlements, which are not so numerous directly on the highway. Unlike traveling along the Moscow-Petersburg highway, the trip does not turn into constant acceleration and deceleration, which at least saves gasoline and the driver's nerves.

Those who exceed the speed limit will face fair retribution from the traffic police. But it is necessary to try and have great impudence to drive at exorbitant speeds, because. traffic police posts on the highway - a rarity. On the entire route, we came across only three patrol crews, and even they observed the observance of the rules in the settlements.

At the end of the first day, our crew met the first really bad section of the road. And, oddly enough, it was the entrance to Petrozavodsk. Here, after the perfect asphalt of the Kola track, you can fully enjoy the pits, potholes, cracks and unkempt roadsides. But this is not for long - directly in front of the city the road becomes much better. The second day should lead us to Murmansk - the capital of the Arctic.

In my understanding, a good road is when at any time of the day you can turn on cruise control and drive 120 km / h. The more often you have to take off from the cruise and slow down, the worse the road. Unfortunately, there are not many roads in Russia that allow you to drive like this. But the R-21 "Cola" is just like that.

M-10 "Russia": section Veliky Novgorod - Zuyevo

federal road. The number of lanes is three from Podberezye to the Tregubovsky overpass, four from the Tregubovsky overpass to St. Petersburg.

The asphalt pavement on the M-10 is now in good condition. Worse than last year, but you can ride quite comfortably.

The main problem in this section is congestion in combination with a three-lane road. If you avoid peak hours and days, then you can ride the M-10 quickly and comfortably. For passenger cars, peak days are weekends. At the end of the weekend everyone returns to St. Petersburg, at the beginning of the weekend everyone leaves St. Petersburg. The longer the weekend, the earlier the heavy traffic begins. So, at the end of the May holidays, traffic jams can already begin at a traffic light in Podberezye.

Trucks are more difficult. They do not have pronounced peak days and hours. But there are a couple of rules. Firstly, a large percentage of trucks are tied to a ban on movement along the Moscow Ring Road during the daytime. Secondly, a large number of goods are delivered by the beginning of the working week. In combination with cars returning from big holidays, this creates the most peak congestion.

There are only two places on this section that cannot be passed without discomfort at a speed of 120 km / h - the Tregubovsky overpass and the curve in the village of Bolshoye Opochivalovo. There are warning signs and speed limits here and there. It is also worth noting the unevenness of the curve on the descent into the overpass towards Moscow.

Driving at night in bad weather is not very pleasant. In general, the road is dirty. The reflectors are not washed, and the posts along the roadsides lose their working properties.

A-115: Section from M-10 Rossiya to R-21 Kola. From Zuevo to Novaya Ladoga.

Regional road. Throughout the two-lane, a large number of turns.

From M-10 (Zuevo) 3 km of bad asphalt. This part just needs to be endured. Second gear and 20-40 km/h. Then on the territory of the Novgorod region the road is in good condition. The asphalt was changed in 2011. This is probably the best section on this road. The road is replete with turns throughout its length, which can be comfortably passed at speeds of no more than 100-110 km / h. In some areas it is better to drop the speed even more. Driving at night is not very pleasant, there are reflective columns only in the northern part, from Kirishi to Volkhov, and then somehow very selectively.

There are not very many cars, but the main majority are fuel trucks from an oil refinery in Kirishi. The section in the Leningrad region is somewhat worse than in the Novgorod region, but, anyway, the quality of the asphalt pavement has almost no effect on the speed. Turns and settlements with cameras for fixing traffic violations have a much greater impact.

Directly in Volkhov, the asphalt is in poor condition, but the section is not very long, literally 2-3 km. Here, too, you just need to be patient.

Then there are two options: along the left bank of the Volkhov River through Staraya Ladoga and along the right bank through Issad. There are more settlements along the left bank, but the asphalt surface is much better. Some navigators write that the exit from A-115 to P-21 is closed at this point. Now this is not so. During the construction of the interchange, a temporary exit was opened in this place. This area is completely closed to truck traffic.

A-116: . An unreadable diagram from which nothing is clear, and even without a direction to Vologda.

There are almost no settlements along the right bank, but the road is broken. It can be seen that the repair was not so long ago, but the asphalt has already crumbled.

Construction of a transport interchange at the junction of the highway A-114 Novaya Ladoga - Vologda to the R-21 "Kola".

R-21 "Cola"

federal road. On the section from Novaya Ladoga to Medvezhyegorsk, the road is two-lane everywhere.

Previously, this road had the number M-18, but after another reform, the prefix "M" was left only on roads leading to Moscow. This did not stop the road from being federal. The quality of the asphalt pavement throughout is good. The workload is different. Different sections of the road were built in different years and are very different from each other. Due to the construction of straightenings and detours, the mileage is constantly floating.

The section from Novaya Ladoga to the turn to Lodeynoye Pole (90 km) is relatively straight. There are not many turns. If there are not many cars, then you can safely go on a cruise. There are places with very limited visibility. In Syasstroy, the road passes through the city, there are several traffic lights. In the same place the last normal refueling (subjectively). Driving at night is also quite comfortable. Dangerous areas are illuminated, columns with reflectors help to see the trajectory well.

Bypassing Lodeynoye Pole is different. It looks like it was built not so long ago, maybe 10-15 years ago. There are long curves with large radii and a wide right-of-way. Visibility is excellent in almost all sections, and you can overtake in curves. The bypass itself is 30 km, and about 25 more to the border with Karelia.

After the border of the Leningrad region and the Republic of Karelia, the road changes again. Posts with reflectors disappear and a hybrid of the old road and new sections begins to Petrozavodsk (150 km). At the same time, the boundaries between them are so blurred that it is not so easy to determine which area you are in. Because of this, it turns out that on the section to Petrozavodsk there are about 20 turns that cannot be comfortably passed at a speed of 120 km/h. Of these, 5-7 are marked with signs, the rest must be determined by eye. If during the day this is not a problem, then at night you can fly in. There are no columns. It can be seen that a lot of effort and money was invested in the road, but for some reason the cheapest posts were not installed. But they reduce accidents much more than automated emoticons on radars measuring speed.

New and old roads R-21 near the village of Verkhneolonetsky (Karelia). (c) Google Maps.

Judging by the archival images of Google, this part of the road has been reconstructed for many years, and there are very fresh sections. So, the bypass near the village of Matrosy is not yet in the 2014 images. A bypass of Petrozavodsk was built in 2005-2007.

P-21 near the village of Matrosy. May 2014 on the left, October 2014 on the right. (c) Google Maps.

In the area of ​​Petrozavodsk, the road is quite busy. This is where the four-strip comes in.

From Petrozavodsk to Medvezhyegorsk, the number of cars becomes much smaller. It immediately catches the eye that the right of way is made according to the most modern Russian standards. Curve radii allow for smooth cornering at 120 km/h. Settlements in this area can be counted on the fingers, and even then, almost all are concentrated closer to Petrozavodsk.

- Murmansk - Pechenga - Borisoglebsky (border with Norway).

The length of the road is approximately 1592 kilometers

Coating quality: excellent throughout. In the Leningrad region, the first about 50 km - 4 lanes. Then there are 2 lanes everywhere.

Infrastructure: Gas stations abound in the Leningrad region. Cafe to a lesser extent. Nothing is found in Karelia for 100 km. There are still settlements before Petrozavodsk. After - 100-150 km between gas stations and generally any civilization. Midges, mosquitoes and bears.

Departures from cities

track

Kilometers are indicated from the Ring Road

Beginning at MEGA Dybenko. The flow is strong and very fast. The nearest gas station - a few kilometers ahead - PTK.

Razmetelevo (9 km)

A small village consisting of a gas station, cafe, car service and studded with "No Stopping" signs. It's a very bad place to stop. There is also a turn to Vsevolozhsk.

Neva River (25 km)

A strategic place from where a good start begins after the traffic police post just behind the bridge. Local goes to Kirovsk and Shlisselburg

Sinyavino (30 km)

Quite a popular place for drivers, because. to get from the post to there is very fast. But! it's not worth going, because it's only 5km ahead, and there's not a very good position in the stop pocket.

Kiselnya (95 km)

Until here it is worth taking the car from the post. It is about 100 km from the city. There is a Pyaterochka store. At the end of the village, turn to Volkhov, where a lot of cars go. At the same time, the turn does not generate traffic towards the region. Stop position around the corner. A local bus rarely runs further along the highway and costs 45 rubles to the next strategic position.

Novaya Ladoga (105 km)

In this place, the second turn to Volkhov, and that's it, and it gives rise to traffic from Volkhov, in contrast to the village of Kiselnya. From Kiselnya to Novaya Ladoga 10 km. There is also a bridge across the Volkhov River. A second new bridge is being built to replace the old one. In front of the bridge there is a cluster of cafes, a bus station, a gas station. After the bridge, construction of a junction with the highway A114 to Vologda and Cherepovets, and two cafes. Expensive and tasteless. However, they accept credit cards for payment. Position after the bridge at a temporary stop in the pocket if you go further to Karelia. And if in Vologda - after the cafes in the pocket of a stop in the village of Issad, or go through the whole village (2m) and catch at the very exit near the Pyaterochka store.

Syasstroy (120 km)

Small town with shops.

Petrozavodsk (380 km)

center of the Republic of Karelia. It has a bypass and three entrances to the city. The first one is right behind the traffic police post. The second is approximately in the middle of the bypass, and the third from the north. Further, deserted long gaps between settlements begin without gas stations and cafes ..

Kondopoga (430 km)

City off the highway, known for right-wing radical sentiments

Medvezhyegorsk (535 km)

The second name is Medgora. The city is off the highway. At the turn, a popular place among drivers, because. There is a gas station and a cafe. At this turn, you can go to the Medvezhyegorsk-Vologda federal highway, which is being capitalized now, so don’t worry, mom.

Segezha (630 km)

Another island of civilization on a deserted Karelian highway. City, away from the road. Refueling. Sometimes not working.

Pushnoy (700 km)

Small village. Turn to Belomorsk. Two gas stations - TNK and Aris. Drivers often spend the night at TNK.

Loukhi (920 km)

Small town off the highway. Refueling.

Kandalaksha (1070 km)

The beginning of the polar civilization. Large city of the Murmansk region away from the highway.

Polyarnye Zori (1100 km)

Small town off the highway

Turn to Apatity (1145 km)

Many drivers can turn onto Apatity and Kirovsk, because mining and chemical industries are concentrated there. Also for lovers of mountain hiking - routes to Khibiny start from Apatit, either on foot or by train. 30 km to Apatit.

Monchegorsk (1180 km)

A small town, one of the most environmentally polluted places in the CIS. This is due to the metallurgical plant, which poisoned all the soil in the district in the Soviet years. The gloomy landscapes along the route are proof of this. Now the plant works only for profit, and most of the shops are closed. The city is located on the right side of the road on the shore of Lake Imandra. The Khibiny Mountains are visible on the opposite bank.

Olenegorsk (1205 km)

Location of military units. The city stays away.

Murmansk (1300 km)

The route in the city diverges in several directions: towards the city of Pechenga and Norway, and towards the closed city of Severomorsk, where nuclear submarines are stationed. You can get to the center by taking a trolleybus on Kola Prospekt.

It just so happened that I travel to the Murmansk region from St. Petersburg quite regularly, at least once a year. So last September, I decided that it would be nice to drive to the Kola Peninsula for a week. The travel program was rather vague - the main points were a visit to the then not yet publicized Teriberka and a stop in Kirovsk to get acquainted with the Khibiny.

But in order to see all the beauties of the Murmansk region, you first need to get to it. And so, first of all, I would like to tell you about what awaits you on the way.

Here I need to make a small digression to talk about my own stupidity. The fact is that I practically did not shoot the road itself with the camera, with the exception of a couple of shots, one of which you see in the title. So do not blame me for the footage from the phone, in the future there will be no such nonsense in the posts :)

So let's start, R-21 Cola.

1. The route starts in the city of St. Petersburg and ends at the border with Norway in the Murmansk region. We are also interested in the section St. Petersburg - Murmansk.
If you plan to get there in one day, then I advise you to leave at 4-5 in the morning. I left at 5 o'clock in the morning and dawn overtook me almost on the border with Karelia.

2. I love fog at dawn. It is a pity that I rarely see him because of my own laziness.

3. Without thinking twice, we went to the forest to stretch our legs. Beauty!

4. Then the most severe fog began, visibility was literally 10 meters. Unfortunately, the iPhone was unable to capture it normally, but you already understood everything about the camera :)
Having slipped through small carpenters near Petrozavodsk, we stop to refuel and have a bite to eat at TNK near Kondopoga.
In general, TNK is practically the only normal gasoline on the highway, therefore, as soon as you see these gas stations, I recommend that you immediately call in and fill up completely, because there will be no gas stations at the intersection of Karelia and the Murmansk region for 400 kilometers, and taking into account the fact that there are settlements there also not - then the prospect of drying out is unlikely to please you.

5. Now a few words about the condition of the road surface. At the time of the trip (autumn 2014), the condition of the road could be assessed as a solid 4 plus or 5 minus.
Almost the entire length of the route is perfect asphalt.

6. Toward the end of Karelia, the road deteriorates a little, the surface becomes more undulating, but there is no crime and no pits.

7. We continue our journey, we pass through the rocks that were blown up to lay the route near Medvezhyegorsk.

8. The weather is getting worse, somewhere near Kemyu.

9. And now we are on the border with the Murmansk region. In this place, perhaps, my favorite place on the highway is located - Lake Nigrozero.

10. Fisherman on a boat.

11. This place is peaceful.

12. Incredible calm emanates from the northern lakes.

14. Almost on the border of Karelia with the Murmansk region there is a sign telling us that we have just crossed the borders of the Arctic Circle. Perhaps this is the most touristic place on the entire route.

15. Now a little about traffic. So - usually the road appears before you exactly the same as in the picture below. Well, you yourself understand. There are few cars here, I would even say just a few. Situations when you drive alone for 5 minutes are quite normal for Cola. In general, traffic jams, congestion and some kind of freelance delays along the way can not be particularly feared. It was on this track that I set all my records for average travel speed. Here you simply don’t have to look for opportunities to overtake, and you certainly won’t have to contemplate the back of some sluggishly crawling truck for 10 minutes. Well, the condition of the road provokes a dynamic ride.

16. In general, when you drive along this road, you constantly notice the fact that it is very well monitored. As an example, I will give a picture of September 2013 with an old bridge across the Kovda River.
The bridge, although very photogenic, is very, very old.

17. In the same year, passing by this very place on the way to Murmansk, I was already driving along a new bridge, and the old one was being dismantled with might and main, and just a week later, when I was returning back, there was no trace of the old bridge. So you can't take a photo like the one below. It’s even a bit of a pity, there was an interesting piece of iron.

18. In general, touching on the topic of bridges, you need to make a small flashback to the city of Lodeynoye Pole, in the Leningrad region. The largest bridge on the highway is located there, which is not only a road and railroad bridge, but also a drawbridge. If you like this type of building, I highly recommend it.

20. We look from above at the Knyazhegubskaya hydroelectric power station ...

21. We stop at one of the many streams ...

22. And already at 20 o'clock we break into Murmansk. Hello dear, I missed you.

This is how my road to Murmansk turned out. In the next posts we will ride around Murmansk, look at the nature of the Kola Peninsula and visit the waterfall on the Lavna River. Keep in touch! :)

I love roads. They always lead somewhere. There are so many new discoveries and pleasant impressions behind them. Every road has its destination. I like the process of driving, roads I get tired very rarely.
If there is a choice, to go on a big highway or a small country road, then I will tend to choose a small one. They often meet the most unexplored miracles. If we were driving along the highway, we would not be stuck in the quicksands of the Voronezh region, I would not be able to see the wild owl of the Orenburg region at arm's length, I would not meet a fox that practically eats from hands in the Tula region. I can list endlessly.
But there are places where only federal highways lead, and there is practically no choice left. The federal highway in Russia is always a lottery. They are both good and bad, I have not seen any excellent ones. But they were also very good.
I want to think about good roads in Russia, a vivid example of which is the P21 Kola highway.

We recall with delight the federal highway P256 - Chuisky Trakt. The road is almost perfect. How many times they drove along it, and the roadway, and the markings are always on the level. Or the road A159 "Maikop - Guzeripl". Although it is not ideal, the condition of the canvas is a solid four.
In terms of the road that is easiest to drive on, I immediately recall the P254 Irtysh highway, which is part of the M51 Baikal federal highway and P216 Astrakhan-Elista. The sections of the road are so smooth and straight that even I drive on these roads for more than a hundred and do not strain, although for me this is extreme.

Highway P21 "Cola"

But this year we drove along the track, which revealed to me that the roads are perfect, beautiful, with excellent canvas and markings, and almost straight.

Leaving Petrozavodsk at 10-30 in the morning, we never thought that at 11 pm we would enter Murmansk. And this is 940 km. paths, the time to overcome which, according to Yandex, takes a little more than 13 hours. And we stopped, took pictures, were at two dams, drove to Kandalaksha, when leaving Petrozavodsk we stopped to fill up with gas.

That is, even according to this information, you can imagine the state of the route. Maybe we were lucky, and the repair was only on a small piece about ten kilometers near Kem, I don’t know, but in the ranking of the roads we had to go, she firmly took second place. Second, because the place of the Chuysky tract is unshakable for me.
The main problem of this road is that there are very few gas stations. There is no need to talk about brands, here you go and you understand that you still need to refuel. It was on the highway that I counted only 6 gas stations. These are the places where in order to refuel, you do not need to go to the city. There are gas stations here in Belomorsk, and Medvezhyegorsk, and in Kandalksha, and in Monchegorsk, but all these cities are at some distance from the highway. For example, Belomorsk is 40 km from the highway. Therefore, it is probably not always convenient to call in. It was generally uncomfortable for us. We have a gas car, but for some reason it is not customary to refuel with gas.

Gas station on the Kola highway on the section from Petrozavodsk to Murmansk:

• About 180 km from Petrozavodsk there is a nondescript gas station, Very similar to the Soviet one, only with 92-m gasoline (there will be a settlement Maselgskaya nearby).
• At the turn to Segezha there is a large complex: a gas station, a cafe, even, it seems, there is a motel. Gasoline and 92, and 95, a lot of cars.
• The next gas station is not far (thirty kilometers) - TNK. I don't remember what brands of gasoline there are.
• Then refueling is only at the turn to Belomorsk, in the village of Pushnoy. There's an Aris gas station and a motel. Gasoline and 92, and 95.
• Next gas station at the turn in Louhi. There is only 92 petrol, and it looks very nondescript.
• But the next gas station is only in the village of Zelenoborsky. There are two of them, but both have only 92 petrol. There are advertisements for a motel in the village.

Further to Murmansk, there was nothing on the highway. Maybe I missed something, I do not argue. There was no task to write down everything down to mileage.
All the way I turned my head, filming everything. I took over 500 photos along the way.

I liked the road, the landscapes pleased.

I was looking forward to the Arctic Circle stele. A sign that I was there. Maybe not such an achievement, but I am happy with this thought.

Everyone has another question about mosquitoes and midges. I didn't notice so much that I couldn't breathe. Yes, I got a mosquito device, maybe it helped, but at stops we walked through the forest, where there was an opportunity, we stood right by the swamps and, how much disaster, I didn’t see.
As I said, the road to Murmansk has excellent markings, all the signs are in order, everything is clear - how much you have traveled, how much is left. But do not think that turning onto any road to the city, you will find yourself on the same excellent road. The roads to the cities look like after the bombing. Of course, I won’t talk about everything, but that’s exactly how it is with Kemi, Belomorsk, Kandalaksha and Apatity.
Well, what else can be said about the road, probably the fact that active repairs are underway at the entrance to Murmansk, and that the arrival in the city will probably be super excellent soon. But for the time being, it is very difficult for a person entering the city for the first time. We drove around almost the entire city along the bypass until we saw where you can poke.
In conclusion, I want to say again - I really liked the road and, knowing now its condition, I am sure that the second trip to the North will not be long in coming. And from the photographs you can understand how the weather changed with the advance to the North, and how we were generally unlucky with it there.
And the last photo, 5 kilometers to Murmansk, by 12 at night. Here they are white nights even in August.