Lena Highway (The Russian Highway from Hell)

The Russian Federal Highway connects city of Yakutsk with the south. Although it is a federal highway, it is just a dirt road. When frozen in the winter, this makes for an excellent surface, and the posted speed limit is 70 kph (43 mph). However, in the summer, with any significant rain, the road turns to impassible mud that often swallows whole smaller vehicles.

It is said that this road melts down to 1 meter every summer for 2…3 months (usually July and August) - and that makes it impossible to build usual roads (using asphalt or concrete) there. In the autumn they freeze back and become even better than usual soil roads.

Following photos were taken just prior to a major traffic jam of more than 600 vehicles. According to the witnesses, motorists ran out of fuel and food resulting in some serious altercations. As you can see in the following picture, Lena Highway is in a pretty good shape in summer. But in Autumn this road turns into a real highway from hell…