The leadership of the Vitebsk region took part in the republican subbotnik
Over 300,000 people were involved in various facilities in the Vitebsk region during the republican subbotnik. On this day, the head of the region, Nikolai Sherstnev, along with other regional and city leaders, planted about 100 trees on Gagarin Street in Vitebsk.
Why was this street chosen? In mid-April, it was 60 years since the first human space flight, accomplished by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Three days after this historic event, Surazhskaya Street in Vitebsk was renamed in honor of the first cosmonaut. Another reason is that the improvement of Gagarin Street has become a landmark project for the regional center. Its reconstruction began back in 2005, but after laying two kilometers of the highway, it was suspended for 15 long years due to insufficient funding. Work on the site resumed after President Alexander Lukashenko visited Vitebsk and participated in the opening of the Polotsk overpass. Since the reconstruction of the overpass cost significantly less than the planned amount, the saved funds, by order of the head of state, were allocated for the further development of Vitebsk's road transport infrastructure, including the improvement of Gagarin Street.
Before starting the planting of greenery at the former tram turnaround at the end of Gagarin Street, Mikhail Meshko, Director of the State Enterprise "Capital Construction Management of Vitebsk City," reported on the progress of work at the landmark facility.
– Large-scale reconstruction work began as early as July last year. Currently, the third, fourth, and fifth phases are being reconstructed simultaneously on Gagarin Street. The general contractor is Trust No. 9, with 10 subcontracting organizations involved, employing 200 people and 80 units of equipment. Work is carried out without days off, in two shifts, but a lot of time was lost in winter. To meet the deadline for the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival, round-the-clock operation needs to be organized, – emphasized Mikhail Meshko. – The complexity of the facility lies in the fact that the street is intertwined with numerous utilities that had to be dismantled and replaced – sewage, water, gas, electricity supply, outdoor lighting, traffic light control systems, and storm sewers with the construction of four treatment facilities. Moreover, they will also handle wastewater from other facilities located on the street. It is sufficient to say that 40 km of heating supply, 6 km each of sewage and water supply networks, and others have been relaid. The plan includes the construction of a new traffic lane and the reconstruction of the existing one with asphalt concrete pavement, a dividing green zone, and the organization of three-lane traffic in both directions. This is no longer a street, but an avenue.
Moreover, at the beginning of Gagarin Street, a turnaround loop for trams and a contact network for trolleybuses will be constructed on the section from Lyudnikova Street to School No. 5. This is for future development.
Nikolai Sherstnev thanked the builders who completed a large volume of work in a short period and plan to commission the facility by July, which is almost twice the normative period. He expressed hope that with this progress, it is quite possible that funds will be saved.
– And then we will have every reason to ask the head of state to leave them with us again for further development of urban infrastructure, in particular, for connecting Frunze Avenue with Lazo Street or for completing the reconstruction of Tereshkova Street. However, it is too early to count our chickens before they hatch, as they say.
During the reconstruction of Gagarin Street, builders have utilized 20 million rubles, with 39 million rubles remaining. The main remaining works include laying asphalt, restoring the facades and foundations of houses and other structures, and planting 1.5 thousand trees and shrubs on the adjacent territory.
Nikolai Sherstnev emphasized that every year, residents of the Vitebsk region show increasing enthusiasm during the republican субботник (voluntary work day). They work at their jobs, go out into courtyards to create flowerbeds, tidy up the areas adjacent to organizations and institutions, plant greenery, improve military graves and other historical and cultural sites, clean up settlements, and prepare children's health and sports camps for the summer season. This is a tradition that our citizens have upheld for many decades, and which the younger generation gladly embraces, noted Nikolai Nikolaevich.
By the way, during the subbotnik, the older generation together with the youth took part in the improvement of the memorial complexes "Proryv" in Ushachi district, "Urochishche Peski" in Polotsk, "Vishenki" in Chashniki, the military burial site in the agro-town of Kopti, Vitebsk district, the Alley of Unity in Verkhnedvinsk, the park in Beshenkovichi dedicated to the Year of National Unity, and others.
50 percent of the funds earned at the republican subbotnik will be transferred to the Ministry of Health to strengthen the material and technical base of medical institutions, including the purchase of equipment for providing planned and emergency medical care to the population, and partial financing of vaccine purchases against the infection caused by coronavirus COVID-19, in order to ensure the accessibility of vaccination for the population. Another 50% of the funds will remain at the disposal of the regional executive committees and the Minsk City Executive Committee and will be directed towards the repair, reconstruction, restoration, and renovation of historical and cultural values, memorial complexes, and sites of military glory from the Great Patriotic War.