Leningradsky Prospekt , or
Leningrad Avenue, is a major radial avenue in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. It continues the path of
Tverskaya StreetTverskaya Street , known as Gorky Street between 1935 and 1990 and Piterskaya in the preceding decades, is the main and probably best-known radial street of Moscow, Russia. The street runs from the central Manege Square north-west in the direction of Saint Petersburg and terminated at the Garden...
and 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street north-west from
Belorussky Rail TerminalBelorussky Rail Terminal is one of nine rail terminals in Moscow. It was built in 1870.- Trivia :* A film "Belorussky Terminal" was created in 1970 by Andrey Smirnov....
, and changes the name once again to Leningrad Highway past the
SokolSokol is the name of a Moscow Metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line. The station opened on September 11th, 1938. Designed by K.N. Yakovlev, V.G. Polikarpova, and V.M. Andreev, it features a single row of pillars which flare upward into the arched ceiling, separated by circular coffers...
metro station. The Highway continues its way to
Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd and Leningrad...
via
TverTver is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Tver Oblast. Population: 405,500 ; 408,903 . Tver, which is located north of Moscow, was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in Imperial Russia with population of 60,000 onJanuary 14, 1913...
(not unlike
Moskovsky ProspektMoskovsky Prospekt is a 10 km-long avenue in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The street runs from Sennaya Square and Sadovaya Street, to the Victory Square, where it becomes Pulkovo Highway and Moscow Highway. In doing so, it passes through Fontanka River, Zagorodny Prospekt, Obvodny Canal, and Ligovsky...
in Saint Petersburg, which is named after, and leads to, Moscow).
Until 1957, Leningradsky Prospekt was part of Leningrad Highway (Petersburg Highway prior to 1924). Both avenues retain their Lenin-related names after the reinstatement of historical Saint Petersburg name .
History
Old road to
TverTver is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Tver Oblast. Population: 405,500 ; 408,903 . Tver, which is located north of Moscow, was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in Imperial Russia with population of 60,000 onJanuary 14, 1913...
, changing its course over Middle Ages, settled in its present site in 16th century. The name
Peterburskoye Schosse (Highway) was established when the road was properly paved in 1786–1790 century.
The most important historical building on the road,
Gothic RevivalThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began in the 1740s in England. Its popularity grew rapidly in the early nineteenth century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval forms in contrast to the classical styles prevalent at the...
Petrovsky Palace, was built in 1776–1780 by
Matvey KazakovMatvey Fyodorovich Kazakov was a Russian Neoclassical architect. Kazakov was one of the most influential Muscovite architects during the reign of Catherine II, completing numerous private residences, two royal palaces, two hospitals, Moscow University, and the Kremlin Senate...
as the last station of royal journeys from Saint Petersburg to Moscow. Coaches for lesser classes arrived and departed from Vsekhsvyatskoye village near present-day
SokolSokol is the name of a Moscow Metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line. The station opened on September 11th, 1938. Designed by K.N. Yakovlev, V.G. Polikarpova, and V.M. Andreev, it features a single row of pillars which flare upward into the arched ceiling, separated by circular coffers...
metro station.
In 1830s, general
Alexander BashilovAlexander Alexandrovich Bashilov was a Russian general officer of Napoleonic Wars period, later engaged in urban planning of Moscow and its suburbs.-Military career:...
, then employed by the Governor of Moscow, planned the first regular grid of city streets north from Petrovsky Palace; two streets in the area still retain Bashilov's name. Territories south from the highway -
KhodynkaKhodynka Field is a large open space in the north-west of Moscow, at the beginning of the present day Leningradsky Prospect. It takes its name from the small Khodynka River which used to cross the neighbourhood...
field - were used mostly for military training. Bashilov also laid down the
boulevardBoulevard has several generally accepted meanings. It was first introduced in the French language in 1435 as boloard and has since been altered into boulevard....
s along the highway; some of them remain to date. Soon, the beginning of Petersburg Highway turned into an upper-class recreation area, with country restaurants and racetrack (completed in 1883). Smolensky Rail station (forerunner of present-day
Belorussky Rail TerminalBelorussky Rail Terminal is one of nine rail terminals in Moscow. It was built in 1870.- Trivia :* A film "Belorussky Terminal" was created in 1970 by Andrey Smirnov....
) was inaugurated in 1870. Between 1882 and 1896, Khodynka housed the national Exhibition of industry and arts, later transferred to
Nizhny NovgorodNizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened as Nizhny, is the fourth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk...
faiground.
In 1890s-1900s, the highway was gradually urbanized, with factories and residential quarters, ranging from working-class barracks to luxury country homes of Morozov family, Nikolay Eichenwald and
Fyodor SchechtelFyodor Osipovich Schechtel was a Russian architect, graphic artist and stage designer, the most influential and prolific master of Russian Art Nouveau and late Russian Revival....
.
Modern History
Sokol Settlement of single-family homes, built in early 1920s near the junction of Petersburg and Volokolamsk highway, remains one of the last two single-family neighborhoods in Moscow (the other one is
Serebryany BorSerebryany Bor is a settlement under administrative jurisdiction of the town of Neryungri in the Sakha Republic, Russia, located north of Neryungri on the Amur Yakutsk Mainline. Population: 4,900 ;...
).
Since 1910s, Khodynka has been used as Moscow's airfield, and housed Moscow's Central Airport until 1950s; irregular
DOSAAFDOSAAF was a paramilitary society in the Soviet Union, Voluntary Society of Assistance to the Army, the Air Force and the Navy . The society was preserved in a number of post-Soviet Republics, e.g., in Russia and Belarus...
flights continued until 1980s. Leningradsky Highway (beyond city limits) is now home to Sheremetyevo Airport, the former largest airport in Moscow, which makes the avenue connecting the city center with the highway even more important street in Moscow. Local transportation developed from
tramA tram, tramcar, trolley, trolleycar, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a conventional train, designed for the transport of passengers within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets...
s (1901–2005) to
trolleybusA trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles...
es (1933) and subway (1938).
Leningradsky Prospekt itself is home to the Dynamo Stadium (1928) and
CSKA MoscowCSKA Moscow is a major Russian sports club based in Moscow...
winter stadium. Educational institutions include:
- Moscow Aviation Institute
Moscow Aviation Institute , named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze, is one of several major engineering higher education establishments in Moscow .Although the school is currently...
- State Financial Academy
- Moscow Automobile Road Institute
- Moscow Food Institute
Notable buildings include
Triumph-PalaceTriumph-Palace is the name of an apartment building in Moscow. It is sometimes called the Eighth Tower because it is similar in appearance to the Seven Sisters skyscrapers built in Moscow by Stalin through the 1950s...
skyscraper and the 1730s
baroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
church of All Saints (
photographs) near Sokol station. It's bell tower is one of Russia's
leaning towerThis is a list of leaning towers. A leaning tower is a tower which, either intentionally, due to errors in design, construction or to subsequent external influence, does not stand perpendicular to the ground...
s.
Highway construction, 2005–2008
Since 2005, the city of Moscow is engaged in a multi-billion project of converting Leningradsky
radiusIn classical geometry, a radius of a circle or sphere is any line segment from its center to its perimeter. By extension, the radius of a circle or sphere is the length of any such segment, which is half the diameter....
, from downtown
Tverskaya StreetTverskaya Street , known as Gorky Street between 1935 and 1990 and Piterskaya in the preceding decades, is the main and probably best-known radial street of Moscow, Russia. The street runs from the central Manege Square north-west in the direction of Saint Petersburg and terminated at the Garden...
to
MKADMKAD is a ring road encircling the City of Moscow.The name is a transliteration of the Russian word МКАД, an acronym for Московская Кольцевая Автомобильная Дорога .The growth of vehicular traffic in and around Moscow in the 1950s made the city planners realize that Russia's largest...
, into a 12-lane, non-stop freeway with
frontage roadA frontage road is a non-limited access road running parallel to a higher-speed road, usually a freeway, and feeding it at appropriate points of access...
s. Authorities declare the goals of improving transportation with remote districts beyond MKAD and Sheremetyevo Airport, however, the worst bottleneck on the road, in the city of
KhimkiKhimki is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated just northwest of Moscow, at the west bank of the Moscow Canal. Population: 180,000 ; 141,000 ; 106,000 ; 23,000 ....
, is not addressed at all. In addition, the project began with irreversible destruction of public
tramA tram, tramcar, trolley, trolleycar, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a conventional train, designed for the transport of passengers within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets...
route along the Prospekt. In March, 2006, the approved project stages were valued at 57 billion roubles (2.1 billion US Dollars)
http://www.izvestia.ru/gorod/article3093141/; the city has declared absolute cap on this project at 1 trillion roubles (38 billion US dollars).
The plan includes the following stages (from city center to MKAD):
- Central segment (startin Q2, 2007 to be completed 2009) http://www.izvestia.ru/gorod/article3093141/
- Redevelopment of Pushkin Square
Pushkin Square in Moscow, historically known as Strastnaya Square and renamed for Alexander Pushkin in 1937, is located at the junction of the Boulevard Ring and Tverskaya Street, 2km northwest of the Kremlin...
with underground tunnels and shopping space
- Redevelopment of Triumphalnaya Square
- Redevelopment of Belorussky Rail Terminal
Belorussky Rail Terminal is one of nine rail terminals in Moscow. It was built in 1870.- Trivia :* A film "Belorussky Terminal" was created in 1970 by Andrey Smirnov....
Square
- Tunnel between Pushkin Square
Pushkin Square in Moscow, historically known as Strastnaya Square and renamed for Alexander Pushkin in 1937, is located at the junction of the Boulevard Ring and Tverskaya Street, 2km northwest of the Kremlin...
and Belorussky Rail TerminalBelorussky Rail Terminal is one of nine rail terminals in Moscow. It was built in 1870.- Trivia :* A film "Belorussky Terminal" was created in 1970 by Andrey Smirnov....
- Rearranging traffic in parallel Brestky Streets, Bronnaya Streets etc.
- Leningradsky Prospekt segment
- Additional overpass
An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An overpass structure is one that carries a higher capacity road above a lower capacity road, whereas a structure that permits a lower capacity road to travel above a larger capacity road is an...
at the Third RingThe Third Ring Road, or The Third Ring, is Moscow's newest beltway, located between the Garden Ring in the city centre and Moscow Ring Road, which until the 1980s defined the Moscow city limits....
crossing (completed 2006)
- Tunnel near Dinamo (Metro)
Dinamo is a station of Moscow Metro's Zamoskvoretskaya Line. It is located on Leningradsky Prospekt, and named after the nearby Dynamo Stadium. It was opened in 1938 as part of the Metro's second stage. Situated on depth of 39.6 metres, the station is tri-vaulted deep-level pylon design. Designed...
(completed December 2006)
- Tunnel near Aeroport (Metro)
Aeroport is a station of the Moscow Metro's Zamoskvoretskaya Line. Its name, literally meaning airport, owes to the nearby Khodynka Airport, Moscow's first airport which has by now ceased operation. Presently there is a bus terminal which has regular service to Moscow's principal airports...
with ramps to KhodynkaKhodynka Field is a large open space in the north-west of Moscow, at the beginning of the present day Leningradsky Prospect. It takes its name from the small Khodynka River which used to cross the neighbourhood...
residential district (completed February, 2007 http://www.rg.ru/2007/02/06/tonnel.html)
- Raised overpass connecting the Prospekt with Leningradsky Highway (to be completed 2008)
- Leningradsky Highway segment (to be completed 2008)
- Redevelopment near Voykovskaya
- Non-stop crossing with Festivalnaya Street
- Construction of a second six-lane Leningradsky Bridge
- Rebuilding MKAD
MKAD is a ring road encircling the City of Moscow.The name is a transliteration of the Russian word МКАД, an acronym for Московская Кольцевая Автомобильная Дорога .The growth of vehicular traffic in and around Moscow in the 1950s made the city planners realize that Russia's largest...
crossing
So far, there are no definite plans of reconstructing the highway in
KhimkiKhimki is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated just northwest of Moscow, at the west bank of the Moscow Canal. Population: 180,000 ; 141,000 ; 106,000 ; 23,000 ....
. There are plans to build a bypass private
toll roadA toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
to the airport currently in design stage.
Public transportation access
Daytime traffic is frequently paralyzed by construction detours, thus the only reliable transportation is through
Zamoskvoretskaya LineThe Zamoskvoretskaya Line , formerly Gorkovsko-Zamoskvoretskaya , is a line of the Moscow Metro. Opened in 1938, chronologically it became the third line. There are twenty stations on the Zamoskvoretskaya line, and it spans , roughly crossing Moscow in a north-south direction. A normal trip along...
of
Moscow MetroThe Moscow Metro , which spans almost the entire Russian capital, is the world's second most heavily used rapid-transit system. Opened in 1935, it is well known for the ornate design of many of its stations, which contain outstanding examples of socialist realist art.-Description of the Metro:In...
(
BelorusskayaBelorusskaya is a station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. Designed by architects Ivan Taranov and Nadezhda Bykova, it was opened in 1938 as part of the second stage of the Moscow Metro...
to
SokolSokol is the name of a Moscow Metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line. The station opened on September 11th, 1938. Designed by K.N. Yakovlev, V.G. Polikarpova, and V.M. Andreev, it features a single row of pillars which flare upward into the arched ceiling, separated by circular coffers...
).