Highway M29 “Caucasus. Highway M29 "Caucasus Federal Highway Caucasus"
Federal highway P217 "Caucasus" is the hottest highway in our country. It is picturesque and not easy. Frequent descents and ascents, giant serpentines and crossing the boundaries of various areas require constant attention from drivers.
The P217 route is part of various European and Asian routes. The section from the village of Pavlovskaya to Makhachkala is part of the long European route E-50. It stretches from the shores of the Bay of Biscay to the Caspian Sea, and is approximately 6000 km. Another European route E-117 includes the road from Beslan to Mineralnye Vody, and the Asian route AN-8 and the interesting European route E-119 include a short section of the route from Makhachkala to Magaramkent (border with Azerbaijan). In addition, the P217 “Caucasus” highway connects with the M4 “Don” highway near the village of Pavlovskaya.
The total length of the M29 highway is approximately 1118 km.
The temperature regime is even and favorable. Hot summers and mild winters with little snow.
Along the way, the P217 highway crosses the rivers: Kuban, Argun and Terek.
Since the M29 highway lies in a mountainous area, there are many dangerous sections on it. Drivers should pay special attention to the following: 179, 216, 372, 488, 539, 558, 579, 797, 857, 861, 882, 937, 939, 970, 991 km.
In general, the P217 Caucasus highway leaves a good impression. I'm pleased with the road surface. The downside is the width of the roadway. The M-29 highway, which is mostly two-lane along its entire length, does not leave much room for overtaking.
Quality rest is the key to safety on the road
This highway is familiar to everyone who has made car trips to the most picturesque region of Russia - the Caucasus. This region attracts tourists, because it has everything that is necessary for a wide variety of holidays - mountains, sea, beautiful nature, wonderful climate. True, to get to these places, you need to cross a difficult highway, which is characterized by a series of numerous descents and ascents, serpentine roads and the presence of dangerous sections. Of course, all these conditions require maximum attention from the driver and the ability to quickly navigate the situation.
But when making long journeys, every person, even with extensive driving experience, is not immune from fatigue and overwork, which negatively affect perception functions. Only quality rest can help a traveler gain strength. Cozy motels on the M29 highway are designed to create the most comfortable accommodation conditions for every tourist, so that any tired traveler can recover in the best possible way after a grueling road.
Wide selection of roadside hotels to suit every taste
If you are interested in motels on the M29 highway, where you can receive the warmest welcome, and, of course, have a hearty dinner, sleep peacefully, take a hot bath, then take a look at our online directory, which describes in detail the best roadside options hotels located along the entire Caucasus highway. By marking on the website the region in which you plan to make a rest stop, you will receive a list of motels on the M29 highway. Among them, you can quickly choose the best option that meets all your requirements.
We offer motels on the M29 highway to suit every taste and budget. These are both small, economical, but at the same time the most modern hotels, offering comfortable accommodation conditions and a high level of service, as well as hotel and entertainment complexes, which have everything for active leisure - baths, saunas, tennis courts and gyms. If you want to stay in a hotel that is distinguished by the sophistication of its interior, the originality of its signature cuisine, and the uniqueness of its SPA center, then this is possible; there are also such luxury hotels on the M29 highway. Book your rooms in advance and relax in comfort.
A beautiful and exciting route leading to the southern borders of our homeland, replete with ups and downs and numerous turns.
In addition, along the way you will encounter a variety of roadside motels, hotels and other places to stay overnight, which are located along the highway in the Krasnodar Territory, Stavropol Territory, as well as the Republic of Ingushetia, Chechnya and North Ossetia.
M29 (P217) “Caucasus” is a federal highway between the village of Pavlovskaya, Krasnodar Territory and the village of Yarag-Kazmalyar (the border of Dagestan with Azerbaijan). Until December 31, 2017 inclusive, the registration number M29 “Caucasus” can also be used (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 17, 2010 N 928).
The length of the highway is 1,118 kilometers. Docking with M-4. The section of the road from Pavlovskaya to Makhachkala is an integral part of the European route E50. The section from Makhachkala to the border with Azerbaijan is included in the European route E119 and the Asian route AH8. The section from Mineralnye Vody to Beslan is also part of the E 117 route
Federal highway M-29 "Caucasus" (number valid until December 31, 2017), new highway number P-217 "Caucasus". The road runs through the territories of the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan. The public highway M-29 connects with the federal highway M-4 and starts from the village of Pavlovskaya in the Krasnodar Territory and ends in Magaramkent in Dagestan, on the border with Azerbaijan.The total length of the M-29 highway is 1,118 kilometers. The section of the Pavlovskaya – Makhachkala road is part of the European route E 50. The section of the Makhachkala – Azerbaijan border highway is part of the European route E 119 and the Asian route AH8.
At the 229th kilometer of the highway, near the village of Kochubeevskoye, the A-155 road departs to Cherkessk, the capital of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. At the 233rd kilometer of the Caucasus highway there is a turn onto the A-154 road, which goes to Stavropol. At kilometer 559, near the city of Beslan, the third largest city in North Ossetia, there is a turnoff to the A-301 highway in the direction of Vladikavkaz. The route has access to the cities of Armavir and Grozny, as well as bypasses to the cities of Pyatigorsk and Makhachkala. The federal highway M-29 ends at the state border of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan. The last settlement here is the village of Gaptsakh, which is located 6 km north of the regional center - the village of Magaramkent.
The road, with a carriageway width of 8 meters, passes through mountainous terrain and has an asphalt concrete surface along its entire length. There are areas on the road that require special attention from drivers, this is indicated on the signs. At kilometer 1164 the road enters a 1.8 km long tunnel.
The route crosses several rivers, the most significant of which are: near the city of Kropotkin, the Kuban River; the Terek River near the village of Elkhotovo; Argun River near the city of the same name. The load capacity of bridges is from 60 tons.
M-29 "Caucasus" is the main highway of the North Caucasus.
I have traveled very little by car in Russia. Almost all trips outside the Belgorod region were limited to the M-4 highway (from Moscow to Krasnodar). I am one of those who believe in stereotypes about “bad roads” in our country, and therefore I try to avoid traveling on them. But we firmly decided to go to Chechnya by car. Half of the journey (to Rostov-on-Don) promised to be expectedly good, but I didn’t find any clear reviews on the Internet about the road along the “Caucasus”. Therefore, having mentally prepared ourselves for the bad road, we hit the road.
1
. A few kilometers after exiting the M-4, the highway began to live up to my expectations, narrowing to two lanes with a very uneven surface. The navigator showed more than 700 kilometers to the destination, and I was slightly depressed. However, at some point we were lucky - a motorcade of seven police cars rushing by with their flashing lights turned on pressed a line of endless heavy trucks to the side of the road and we were able to pass them.
2 . However, the joy was short-lived - soon areas with repair work began to appear, and then I became completely depressed. Somewhere near Tikhoretsk, the flow speed generally dropped to 20 kilometers per hour, and then all traffic moved to the side of the road. “If this continues, then I will turn around and take you to Crimea!”- I told Natasha. But, fortunately, my patience turned out to last longer than the narrow strip of M-29, and already at the entrance to the Novokubansky district, an asphalt sea opened in front of us - a wide strip of fresh asphalt with separated traffic flows. In total, only the first 90 kilometers of the Caucasus federal highway turned out to be “bad”.
4 . The mood improved along with the quality of the surface, and the stereotype about “bad Russian roads” was left behind. At some point we even began to admire the scale of road construction. Fresh Navitel maps, downloaded two days before the trip, could not always indicate the route correctly. Sometimes the navigator showed that we were driving through a field, although in practice this field was already a good section of the highway. Somewhere after Mineralnye Vody we arrived at the first of the sections with a permitted maximum speed of 110 km/h. There will be several more of them on our way.
The section of M-29, about a hundred kilometers long, running through the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria, caused disappointment. And he was upset not so much by the quality of the road surface, but by the werewolves in uniform grazing behind every bush. In Kabardino-Balkaria, the Caucasus highway consists of three lanes (obviously, it was decided to save money on a full fourth). They alternate - sometimes two lanes for our side, then two for the oncoming side. That is, the middle lane is such pockets for overtaking, an opportunity to pass the line of trucks that has accumulated in front of you. It was on one of these segments that I got caught - out of habit, seeing a widening ahead, I went out to overtake, but already completing the maneuver, I realized that this was a left turn lane. Having dived from it into the right lane, after a couple of hundred meters I was stopped by happy men with a striped stick, who had gathered an impressive column of “vagrants” like me on the side of the road.
Here, for the first time in my Russian practice, I had to give a bribe. In all seriousness - in almost five years of driving experience, no one has demanded a bribe from me, I thought that they no longer do this in our country. Yeah, of course! The local Gaians taught me all the basics of extortion, and I, not wanting to waste time, paid myself off.
By the way, on the way back home we were also caught in Kabardino-Balkaria! Moreover, realizing that I was savvy in knowledge of the laws, and it would not be possible to hit the jackpot for the alleged “violation,” the local cop (I dare not call these scammers “policemen”) got to the bottom of my outstanding fines and offered to go to the impound lot. As a result, having knocked down his original price tag three times, I finally paid and left.
In general, I don’t know anything about Kabardino-Balkaria, but now there are persistently unpleasant associations with it. So no photos. We only uncovered the camera at the entrance to North Ossetia.
6 . In Ossetia, roads are also being actively reconstructed. There are many new plots, many under construction.
7 . True, after the bridge over the Terek there is a section of about thirty kilometers (by eye), which consists of only two lanes. There's a nice line of trucks accumulated there. For some reason, we have practically no photographs from bad sections; only the brand new sections of the highway aroused the desire to take photographs.
8 . For example, these. Somewhere on the approaches to Beslan, so many new interchanges were built that even Navitel did not know about them.
9 . I also liked that in many areas of the Caucasus they use concrete barriers for dividing strips. This is very correct, it is a pity that such experience is not practiced in our area.
10 . About ten kilometers from Beslan along the M-29 highway there is a large checkpoint. Having passed it, we gradually began to notice that something had changed in the surrounding landscape, but for a long time we could not understand what exactly... It turned out that there is no clearly defined border between North Ossetia and Ingushetia, and there are no noticeable signs warning about it. But the contrast between Orthodox Ossetia and Muslim Ingushetia is noticeable in many ways - in the architecture of buildings, in the clothing and appearance of local residents.
11 . Along Nazran the road stretches a narrow strip, on which you can often meet cows that are “impenetrable” in their tranquility. Another interesting local feature is the roadside poles, along the entire route, painted in the colors of the Ingush and Russian flags.
12 . Over time, we reach a new section of the road. “Oh, we’re probably already in Chechnya”— we joke with Natasha. However, this is still the Ingush Republic. There is also no clear border between Chechnya and Ingushetia.
13 . When there is no doubt that we have entered Chechnya, the road becomes ideal. A good highway with a permitted speed of 110 kilometers per hour pleases us for quite a long time.
14. At the approaches to Grozny, however, the road again narrows to two lanes. Here, by the way, the vast majority tries to adhere to the speed limit, and traffic police crews met several times at intersections. But we’re almost there and we’re in no hurry.
15 . We are approaching Grozny. Here the M-29 continues to go straight towards Dagestan. We'll soon turn left.
16 . The last few kilometers to the city limits.
17 . In unreconstructed areas, work is in full swing.
18 . Here we are in Grozny. 770 kilometers along M-29, most of which are good and very good roads. My fears about “one of the main Russian troubles” on the Caucasus highway were in vain. I am sure that in the next few years the problem areas will also be expanded, new asphalt will be laid where necessary, and this federal highway will be no worse than the M-4. We still need to sort out bribery in certain areas...
Well, I’ll tell you about Grozny and Chechnya, local roads and customs next time. By the way, you can ask questions about the Chechen Republic in the comments, I will try to tell you based on personal experience.