page_title: Soviet infrastructure in Central Asia
section_title: Modern Road Infrastructure
hierarchical_section_title: Soviet infrastructure in Central Asia / Road Transportation / Modern Road Infrastructure
caption_attribution_description: English: the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan near the Karakul lake Deutsch: der Pamir Highway in Tadschikistan in der Nähe des Karakul Sees
context_page_description: The legacy of the Soviet Union lives on in the infrastructure of Central Asia. As it crumbles, or gets patched up, much of what was built in Central Asia is the backbone of the existing infrastructure for transportation, goods delivery and energy distribution. Much of the industrial infrastructure underwent precipitous decline in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, especially in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The roads, railroads and energy lines are thus oriented towards the Russian Federation and away from other regional neighbors, such as China, Afghanistan or Iran.
context_section_description: In particular, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are landlocked and heavily dependent on roads for trade and commerce. Their mountainous terrain makes transportation challenging and expensive."When it comes to the main road corridors, both governments plan to continue relying on big international and bilateral partners for aid in transportation construction. In Kyrgyzstan international organisations have invested over $400 million to rehabilitate 1,600km of roads between 1995 and 2008. China's Export Import Bank is the largest investor in the transportation infrastructure of Tajikistan…"  In Tajikistan, Japan's development agency is building a road south from the capital.  Typically, these investments are scattershot and targeted towards road infrastructure that can potentially carry international cargo. Following the Soviet legacy, they are also typically oriented along the north-south axis.
  The north-south road through eastern Kazakhstan (via Almaty and Aktogay) provides an important link between the Kyrgyz Republic (and Uzbekistan to a lesser extent) and eastern Siberia. The north-south road through Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, links Kazakhstan and Xinjiang to Afghanistan and ports in Iran and Pakistan.
  In Turkmenistan, which does not receive as much foreign aid but has substantial natural gas reserves, the Soviet system of management has largely remained in place. Five separate ministries are in charge of specific segments of the transportation sector. The government has not developed any master plan on road improvements, so upgrades do not take into account traffic volume, future building or maintenance costs.
  Poor road conditions are caused by overloading vehicles and a lack of preventive maintenance, due to funding constraints. Much maintenance and repair is dependent on bilateral aid or is done piecemeal.
caption: Pamir highway near Karakul
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