M2 highway (Russia)

Federal Highway M2
Федеральная автомобильная дорога M2
Crimea Highway
Route information
Part of
Length:	720 km (450 mi)
Existed:	1950 – present
Major junctions
West end:	Ukrainian border
East end:	Moscow
Highway system
Russian Federal Highways

The Russian route M2 (also known as the Crimea Highway, (автодорога "Крым")) is a major trunk road that connects Moscow to the Crimea. It is part of the European route E105. The length is 720 kilometres.

Inaugurated in 1950, the highway starts at the junction of the Moscow Ring Road and Varshavskoye Shosse and travels south-west, immediately bypassing the cities of Tula, Oryol, Kursk and Belgorod before terminating at the border with Ukraine. (Due to the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation, is unknown at this point if the road will extend into Crimea.)

West of the border, the road continues through Kharkiv and Zaporizhia to Simferopol and Yalta as the Ukrainian M20 and M18. It is used by Russian summer vacationers who travel to the Black Sea resorts of Crimea.

History

At the heart of the route of the road lies the ancient Crimean tract. The highway Moscow - Kharkov section was built in 1840-60. The road was completely renovated in 1946-50, Getting asphalt cover. The route Moscow - Kharkiv - Simferopol in the Soviet period had the number 4.

By the time of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, it was decided to build a high-speed road understudy. Olympic Torch Relay took place partly on the new road, despite the fact that only a part of the route in the Moscow region and the junction with the Ring Road was completed in 1980. This isolation was the first in the Soviet Union, the movement on which was carried out in three levels.