The sudden and entirely unexpected WINTER SNOW has once again caught Moscow Mayor S. S. Sobyanin off guard. As its main tool for fighting traffic jams and gridlock, City Hall yesterday chose the most reliable one of all: denying that traffic jams and gridlock exist. According to the mayor of the capital, there are "no roads in the city that are at a standstill because of snow". This despite the fact that at 4 a.m. today (!!), traffic in the city was already rated at 5 out of 10. I’m not saying this to claim that Sobyanin is failing at his job; writing that would be completely unoriginal and, frankly, vulgar. I’m saying it because this morning, on behalf of the Coordinating Council, an application was submitted to Moscow City Hall to hold the “March of Freedom” on December 15. Two routes have been proposed: Kaluzhskaya Square – Bolshaya Yakimanka St. – Bolshaya Polyanka St. – Serafimovicha St. – Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge – Borovitskaya Square – Mokhovaya St. – Okhotny Ryad St. – Teatralny Passage – Lubyanka Square
2. Novokuznetskaya St. – Sadovnichesky Passage – Bolshoy Ustinsky Bridge – Ustinsky Passage – Solyanka St. – Solyansky Passage – Lubyansky Passage – Lubyanka Square
I wonder whether, after all this transportation hell, those crooks will still have the nerve to say, "A march cannot be held in Moscow because it causes problems for traffic".
It gets in the way, so to speak, of summer cottage owners (dacha owners) and ambulance access. And of course, do come to the march. Please mark December 15 in your calendars and planners. Why shouldn’t we all take a walk through beautiful, snowy Moscow?