Drive from Europe to the U.S.? Russia proposes world's greatest superhighway

CNN

London to New York City by car?

It could happen if the head of Russian Railways has his way.

According to a March 23 report in The Siberian Times, Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin has proposed a plan for a massive trans-Siberian highway that would link his country's eastern border with the U.S. state of Alaska, crossing a narrow stretch of the Bering Sea that separates Asia and North America.

An ambitious idea, I imagine it would encourage trade between the two superpowers.

Dubbed the Trans-Eurasian Belt Development (TEPR), the project calls for a major roadway to be constructed alongside the existing Trans-Siberian Railway, along with a new train network and oil and gas pipelines.

"This is an inter-state, inter-civilization, project," the Siberian Times quoted Yakunin. "The project should be turned into a world 'future zone,' and it must be based on leading, not catching, technologies."

Sounds completely speculative right now, but it will be interesting to see if this kind of idea will get any support (on either side of the Bering strait).

It would have to be huge at either end, reminiscent of the border crossings between Mexico and the U.S. Would be nice to see this happen, though, although on second thought......more cars, more trucks, more noise, more animals disturbed, ocean disturbed, more Siberian construction, more pollution.....never mind.

originally posted by: Elton


An ambitious idea, I imagine it would encourage trade between the two superpowers.

You mean Encourage trade between the world's superpower and Russia...

Cool Idea I suppose, is this just to get America more oil?

I liked the New York to London idea better... Someone should work on that

a reply to: Elton

Two things that came to mind. How much will be dumped into the oceans by motorists over the next 50 years and what are their expectations? What would drivers do in case of a emergency? Icy roads, a hurricane or even a tsunami. In theory it seems only like a decent idea. In practice it could be far worse.

a reply to: Elton

Considering the current tensions between the two parties,

I'd feel sorry for the citizens of either country who had to deal with that border crossing, lol.

But I don't see either side going for it. It could've probably been done a long time ago and hasn't on purpose.

a reply to: Elton

This has been talked about for years and years. The cost would be astronomical. It is inevitable i think. The bit going through the arctic is the trickiest. There isn't even a road going through all of Alaska. Could you imagine the herculean task of fixing pot holes? What about Reindeer crossings. Maybe if the earth keeps warming and most of Canada and Alaska start looking like northern Michigan most of the year. I would definitely go on a road trip north.

V

originally posted by: Antipathy17
a reply to: Elton

Two things that came to mind. How much will be dumped into the oceans by motorists over the next 50 years and what are their expectations? What would drivers do in case of a emergency? Icy roads, a hurricane or even a tsunami. In theory it seems only like a decent idea. In practice it could be far worse.

No one is going to drive from London to NYC using that road, it would be over 9 days of nonstop 24 hour driving. A better idea if the "london to NYC" idea is really what is cared about here, would be a superhighway over the atlantic ocean spanning only 3.5 thousand miles which would take less than 3 days non stop. Of course if it's a superhighway maybe they can allow 100 mile an hour driving and cut the driving time to a day and half non stop. Make a few nice rest stops and it might not be such a bad commute.

The costs would still be pretty high, but at least I can get to my wife's family without having to deal with the airlines or Russia

If you though breaking down on a deserted highway in the middle of nowhere was alarming, imagine when you breakdown on a bridge in the middle of the Atlantic during a storm? It would be an easy way to dump bodies in the ocean though, once you cross international lines of course.

Why would I need to dump bodies?? Im just saying man, if you build a bridge that goes through nowhere someone might want to dump a body.

Russia has been talking about militarizing the Arctic for years as part of its greater strategy to explore and industrialize the pristine region, which is wealthy in oil and gas and offers a strategic trade route capable of rerouting the global trade flows.
The locations named by Gordeyev are deep into the Arctic circle in the Chukchi Sea, close to Alaska. President Vladimir Putin in April stepped up his commitment to the region, calling for the creation of a unified command structure to coordinate military operations in the Arctic and create a new government entity to execute Russia's policy in the region.

Moscow Times

It will be benefitical to someone.

AK Beat: New Russian military bases going up on Arctic island near Alaska

a reply to: Elton

This could indeed be accomplished utilizing today technological prowess and construction processes. I imagine it may even be a good idea to enclose/semi enclose some of the more extreme Siberian/Alaskan parts of route.

I don't see this being popular with drivers. Thousands of miles across 'no where' Russia. And the cost of gas and motels and wear on the car would be hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Why not just spend those hundreds of dollars to fly over the 'middle of nowhere' in just a few hours ??

I'M FOR IT!
Encuraging Russians to come here is a great idea WE need to go to RUSSIA to develop ther unused land mass. THE COLD end os largely unexplored on a regular basis.
That waty I could drive for ...about a year and take the ULTIMATE road trip to England!

originally posted by: r0xor
a reply to: Elton

Considering the current tensions between the two parties,

I'd feel sorry for the citizens of either country who had to deal with that border crossing, lol.

But I don't see either side going for it. It could've probably been done a long time ago and hasn't on purpose.

Actually, a really good idea.

I've been through communist/capitalist border crossings more than a couple of dozen times in my life. It was slow, but not awful. Pretty close to the crossings between Mexico and the US, actually those I've been through more times, and they were worse.

I think it would actually expose more Russians and Americans to each other at the towns that would grow up along the route for food/lodging etc. When people get used to interacting with each other, prejudices and distrust breaks down. People begin to see each other as regular people, instead of the monsters the governments try to convince people that people in other countries are. It would be the start of global normalization.

I'd love to be able to drive to London!

Retarded! Both countries already have major problems in their own backyard with failing infrastructure! Americas on average rates a D! They'd be better off building two major airports between Alaska and Siberia and investing in Concorde type jets. Tourism could be huge between the two countries and the areas could rely less on resource extraction!

This would be a total fail. Im not saying it couldnt be done, but WHY. There would not be many places to stop and rest, unless they built floating gas stations and truck stops. Weather would be a huge factor, those waves get mighty big out there. And who the heck wants to blow a thousand dollars in gas, when that could easily be used to buy a cheap plane ticket. DING DING, now I know why all these planes keep crashing, its a way to sway the public away from aviation, and onto a non existent highway. Sarcasim. LOL

What?? Why wouldn't they build a super train? A freeway? C'mon people.

The points everyone has raised above makes me wonder what resources could be trucked from Alaska to Russia (or vice versa) that would make the road worthwhile financially.

originally posted by: FlyersFan
I don't see this being popular with drivers. Thousands of miles across 'no where' Russia. And the cost of gas and motels and wear on the car would be hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Why not just spend those hundreds of dollars to fly over the 'middle of nowhere' in just a few hours ??

If you really want to drive. Put the car on a boat and go..
I see no way that even a Bering sea storm would affect driving. A shift in tectonic plates ripping a bridge apart... or submarine/ship crashing into the pillars... etc etc.....

a reply to: Elton

This is actually an old idea. Its been discussed previously about building a bridge across the bering straight. I am all for it and I also want to see the bridge between Spain and Morocco built as well.

If I am not mistaken the shortest distance between Russia and the US is about 50 miles.

a reply to: Xcathdra
wikipedia.org


I looked it up, guess the common scenario is 3 bridges.