Since the beginning of 2019, 13 road crashes, in which 1 person was injured, have been recorded on the toll sections Nur-Sultan-Shchuchinsk, Nur-Sultan-Temirtau and Almaty-Khorgos. The Toll Roads Directorate branch of QazAvtoJol National Company JSC is taking comprehensive measures to ensure safety on toll road sections.
Road services receive complaints about livestock on the carriageway every day. Although duty staff promptly notify the relevant authorities, police officers are not always able to reach the scene quickly. And road service staff have no powers to hold livestock owners administratively liable. As a result, staff of the road maintenance units have to drive livestock off the carriageway themselves. Since the beginning of the year, only three livestock owners have been held administratively liable. Because the animals carry no brands or ear tags, it is not always possible to trace their owners.
Every year, the Toll Roads Directorate branch holds meetings with local executive bodies, district police officers, owners of farms located near the toll sections and local residents. At the meetings, the consequences of grazing livestock in the road right-of-way are explained and leaflets on administrative liability are handed out. This year, 28 meetings on the issue were held on the Nur-Sultan-Shchuchinsk section, 6 on the Nur-Sultan-Temirtau section and 1 on the Almaty-Khorgos section.
To ensure safety, fencing with a total length of more than 400,000 linear metres has been installed on the 4 toll sections. However, there have been thefts of fence components (mesh). On the Nur-Sultan-Temirtau section, for example, about 5,000 linear metres of fencing were stolen, and this year the Directorate restored it in full (100%) using its own resources.
In 2019, more than 6,500 linear metres of fencing were installed along the Nur-Sultan-Shchuchinsk road. Under the plan, a further 6,000 linear metres of mesh will be installed on this section in 2020, and about 10,000 linear metres on the Almaty-Khorgos section.
The Toll Roads Directorate branch urges farm owners not to let livestock onto the carriageway or graze domestic animals in the road right-of-way, and calls on drivers to be attentive and careful at the wheel. Road crashes are caused both by failure to follow the traffic rules (speeding, vehicle defects) and by livestock straying onto the carriageway.