New Stage of Road A14 Vilnius–Utena Reconstruction
Next year reconstruction of the road A14 Vilnius–Utena 4-km long road section will be undertaken. The main road will be widened from 2 to 4 traffic lanes, and a number of traffic safety engineering measures will be implemented. The contract of 19.9 MEUR has already been signed for the completion of these works.
Main road Vilnius–Utena is the main artery between the capital city of Vilnius and north-eastern part of Lithuania. Due to the cementconcrete road pavement inherited from Soviet times, this road needs major reconstruction. However, the selected methods of reconstruction have sparked off intense political debates. The decision has been made that reconstruction will be financed by the state, according to the plan, and the project will get moving in spring. According to the Minister of Transport and Communications Mr Rokas Masiulis, it is an extremely important task in traffic safety improvement.
Reconstruction works will be a follow-up activity of road widening works performed on this road. Currently, this main road has 4 traffic lanes on the 16-km-long road section, i.e. from Vilnius to the intersection with road No 172 Raudondvaris–Giedraičiai–Molėtai. New road reconstruction and widening works will be undertaken on another 4-km long road section up to the intersection with road No 108 Vievis–Maišiagala–Nemenčinė (from 16.00 km to 16.80 km and from 17.64 km to 20.84 km). The works will be performed by the merger of JSC YIT Infra Lietuva and YIT Infra Eesti AS.
During reconstruction works, the road will be strengthened and widened from 2 to 4 traffic lanes, and the current low quality cementconcrete pavement will be replaced by asphalt pavement. To improve traffic safety, left-hand turns and turnarounds across dividing lines will be removed on the road. Instead, two grade-separated intersections and connecting roads will be constructed. To improve safety of pedestrians and cyclists, a pedestrian viaduct and a 4.4 km long cycle-walkway will be constructed. Moreover, lighting will be installed on the reconstructed road section; safety and noise barriers will be constructed; net fence against wild animals will be installed. Pedestrian viaduct will emerge at the road to Raudondvaris at the exit to the nearby cafes (16.49 km). On both sides of the road, bus stop areas will be constructed. Underground pedestrian crossing is planned at 18.56 km, where bus stops have been constructed near the roads to Gegliškės and Pašiliai villages.
Main road Vilnius–Utena is one the most problematic Lithuanian roads. It is almost the only cementconcrete paved road, the maintenance and repair of which is very expensive, and in most places deformations, cracking, fractures and roughness are extremely dangerous in terms of traffic safety. According to the Director of the Lithuanian Road Administration under the Ministry of Transport and Communications Mr Vitalijus Andrejevas, during reconstruction, engineering traffic safety measures will be implemented to ensure smooth traffic flows.
Widening works of road A14 Vilnius–Utena were completed in 2008–2009, when part of the main road was widened from 2 to 4 traffic lanes from km 10.0 to km 16.0 km. When planning further road reconstruction in 2014–2016, various project implementation models were discussed, including public-private partnership method, which was approved by the Government and the Parliament. In 2017 the Working Group of the project road Vilnius-Utena was pooled. Having studied the implementation possibilities of the project as well as its possible advantages and disadvantages, the Working Group applied to the Ministry of Transport and Communications with a request to cancel the project implementation as only 2 traffic lanes were included in the feasibility study, which did not solve the problem of high accident rates, and the construction of a wider road would considerably increase the project‘s costs. Taking into consideration all mentioned above, it was decided to reconstruct separate road Vilnius-Utena sections on the funds of the Road Maintenance and Development Programme.