OREANDA-NEWS. January 21, 2010. The RF and St. Petersburg governments have to slash in half 2010’s funding of the new Northern High-Speed Diameter highway in St. Petersburg, the RF government announced.

The RF can only reportedly allocate this year USD 243m instead of USD 487m planned earlier; St. Petersburg’s appropriation is also down to USD 87m from the originally earmarked USD 120m.

The Northern High-Speed Diameter project is reportedly Russia’s first concession, in which the RF Investment Fund participates. According to the government, it calls for construction of a toll high-speed eight-lane highway in St. Pete with the throughput capacity of up to 140,000 vehicles a day, enabling cars to move at a speed of 120km/h.

The road is reportedly scheduled for completion in 2014.