EXTENT OF TRAFFIC ON AND DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION OF SPECIFIC MOTOR ROADS IN CENTRAL ASIA, WITH ENCLOSED SKETCHES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000400600003-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 19, 2009
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: July 20, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION COWFIIITIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Extent of Traffic on and Details of Construction of NO. OF PAGES /A
Specific Motor Roads in Central Asia, with Enclosed
Sketches
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
DATE (OF I:
THIS DOCUMENT -CONTAINS INTO RMATION AI/ECTING TOE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF TMF UNITED ETATC S. RITNIN THE NEARING II TITLE IS, SECTIONS 709
AND 794, 0I THE U.S. COE E, A! AMENDED. ITS TRAI!ENISEION CR RAVE.
CATION OF IT! CONTENTS TO ON RECEIPT Rr ON UNAV TMORI IED PRISON IS
IRONINITEE !T LAY. TOE REPRO. UCTION OF TN IS POSE 19 PAOOISITTU.
NO. OF ENCLS. 6 (A-F)
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. There was generally no through.,, traffic on the 3.2 Central
Asian, covered by this report. By lack of through
traffic no v~hi+les such as
2. The Tashkent Ura-Tyube road /-see Enclosure AT
(a) The Chirchik River was nine kilometers south of Tashkent by road.
There was much traffic to and from the river on this stretch, because
sandd, and gravel were needed for construction work in Tashkent. At
times there were perhaps one thousand or more trucks per day traveling
over this section. There was little traffic from the kolkhozes and
there were few vehicles available there. The inhabitants used more
the Begovat ? Tashkent railway for their travels. From the Chirchik
River to Pskent, about 30 trucks and cars per day went over the road.
The vehicles came from rural "raikoms" (rayon cowmawittees) and from
kolkhozes. The latter sent out vehicles to bring back goods for the
stores of the kolkhozes. Cotton was usually brought out by camel.
The section of read from Pekent to Ura@Tyube was traveled by five or
ten vehicles per day. The motor road which paralleled the railway
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had approximately the same traffic pattern, with the exception of the heavy
truck traffic to the river found on the main road. 25X1
(b) The direct road,, not paralleling. the railway, from Tashkent to Ura-Tyube:
(1) The Tashkent-Sayat section bad a sand roadbed about 15-20 cm hick. Some
stretches were paved with cobblestones (12 am thick) and others with
gravel (20 cm thick, in three layers). The road: cambered no that it
would drain and had ditches.
(2) The Sayat Ura-Tyube section was not paved. Its first 50 kilometers
was no ? . a real road at all One just drove over the loess and the route
had been made wide by preceding traffic. The 72 kilometers( from Dalverzin
to Ura-Tyube was an improved dirt road., It was, however, much worse to
drive over than the first 50 kilometers, It was narrow (from 7 to 10
meters; is two-lane), went up and down through cotton fields, had ditches,
but no adequate drainage. There was no roadbed.. When it rained in the
autumn, the roa. became a sea of mud and was not used.
(c) The road from Tashkent to Ura-Tyube, which paralleled the railway, very fre-
quently (seven or eight times), crossed and cries-crossed the railway. Then,
nine kilometers south of the Syr Darya River, it crossed to the west side of
the railway and paralleled it consistently. This road was built later and at
a more gradual pace than the main Tashkent - Stalinabad highwaya~ The road
vent through Ianngi-lul (or, the Kaufmannskaya railway station), "poselok Syr
Darya, Mirzachul, and Ursatyevskaya stations From that point it went on with-
out the railway to Dra-Tyube. The 68 kilometers from Tashkent to Syr Darya
"poselok" was surfaced with gravel; It-had a sand roadbed, was cambered,
and had ditches. The 92 kilometers to Ursatyevskaya had gravel in some sec-
tions,, Or the 41 kilometers to Ura- yube, 39 kilometers were paved with
road here was only three and one-half meters wide, ie
The
Cobb est. eso
one-lane. had no roadbed anal, ono effective drainage. All the. rest of this
Tashkent Ura-Tyube roam had two lanes. The last two kilometers of the road
ran along a sma1 shallow, gravel riverbed.., The main purpose of this road
was to serve the sovkhozes and kolkhozes, particularly those growing cotton.
The Samarkand Guzar section was art of the, kand - K3..tab Guzar Derbent
e. K o..r res see Vaalosurei . The most important pa*t was the section
from Guzar oath to;Termez. The $amarkand -.Kitab part of the road was fairly
important, but theKitab - Guzar section was not, because it was paralleled by a
railway. The whole route was an old Czarist post road, which had been used to
carry the mail and by travelers Journeying to the garrison town of `Termez.
It was a di7~t ?aaa1 4ept for saie sections which were surfaced with gravel.
The traffic waslight, averaging approximately the equivalent of 10 vehicles
making a round trip per 24 hours.
(a) The Samarkand Kitab section had the heaviest traffic, about 20-25 vehicles
per day.. The quality of the road was good, It ran for the most part through
mountains. The road had a dirt surface and the soil was rocky, making a good
foundation for driving. The width was seven meters (two-lane) and there was
drainage, There was no roadbed.
(b) The Kitab - Dekhannabad (4+2 kilometers south of Guzar) section was poor. There
was no roadbed, except for 15 or 20 kilometers where. the road was surfaced
with alight coating of gravel. The whole Samarkand - Termez road, except
for these 15 or 20 kilometers in the difficult Kitab - Dekbanabad (formerly
Oum1aliak) section had no roadbed. This section from Kitab to Dekhanabad
was, nine meters wide and had no drainage. It was: constantly in a state of
deterioration from the passage of motor vehicles, as was the stretch from
Dalverztn to Ura-Tyube mentioned above. It was almost impassable during. the
heavy rains of December and January. The traffic on this section was the
lightest .for the whole road$ because it was a bad section and was alongside
a railway. Approximately five vehicles traveled it a day.
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(c)
The Dekhanabad Shirabad section ran through mountains and was:seven meters
wide,. It had a dirt surface but ran over hard soil and had drainage. It was
better than the Kitab - Dekhanabad portion. Traffic was about the name for
both sections...,
(d) The Shirabad Termez-section was 51 kilometers in length. No ro-.d had actu-
~ally been built on this stretch, except for the erection of two or three wooden
bridges. One drove more or less where one wanted over the steppe. All the
other sections of the Samarkand - Termez road had required road construction.
The Shirabad - Termez section was about 100 meters wide. It was a good route
as it ran over hard rocky soil. There was no-real drainage, It was traveled
by about 20-25 vehicles per day. This was fairly sizeable traffic for Central
Asia and was to be found on this portion because there was a railway station
in Termez and Shirabad was a sizeable. small town, situated in a cotton growing
region,
(e) The Samarkand - Termez road was important strategically. It would be valuable
in any military mov(ruent southward against Afghanistan, ie the fortress at
Mazr-i-Sharifn A road led from the latter location to Kabul.
(f) The dirt road from Derbent via Baisun to Stalinabad was considered important,
as it was the only motor road to Stalinabad,.except for the one from:Ura-Tyube.
The latter route was closed by snow in.the zountains during the winter, in
November - April. The Derbent ,Stalinabad.road:was open all year.. It was
about seven meters-wide, had no roadbed, but did have some drainage. Traffic
on.the'stretch-from Derbent to Baisun was only about five vehicles per day, as
it was for that matter from Derbent-to Shurchi station,, a distance of about
90 kilometers. There was even less traffic from.the station ? on to Stalinabad.
4. The motor road from Ashkhabad to iKizyl-Arvat and southwest to Gasan-Kuli Lee
Enclosure 7 should be considered as one route,. rather than the Ashkhabad - Kizyl-
Arclat - Kazandzhik road. The route from Kizyl-Arvat to Kazandzhik had no import-
ancew A road was never really constructed on this stretch) although one could
drive over open country. En route to Kazandzhik there were sheep and goat kol-
khozes. As a result, there was some traffic, perhaps five vehicles per day.
The desert began after Kazandzhik. The Ashkhabad - Kizyl-Arvat - Gasan-Kuli road
isa strategic one, as it would serve as the route for military movement against
Iran in event of hostilities.
(a) The Ashkhabad - Kizyl-Arvat section paralleled the main railway from Tashkent
via.,Samarkand to Krasnovodsk. The railway was single-track and broad.gau8e.
The motor road was an improved dir+, one, about 12-13 meters wide. Some parts
merely ant Qver?:;the hard ground of the region and these parts were the best
for traveling. There was no roadbed and little drainage. It was an all-season
route. The motor road ran on the north side of the railway, usually very close
to the railway, and did not cross it. There was very little traffic, at most
the equivalent of five machines per day, round trip. The vehicles belonged
to kolk]aozes and to officials of "raikoms"..(rayon committees). The traffic
near Ashkhabad was somewhat heavier, about 10-15 vehicles per day.
(b) The road turned southwest from Kizyl-Arvat to Gasan-Kuli on the Caspian Sea
near the Iranian border. This was a more important stretch of the road as
it did not parallel a railway. The Atrek River which forms the Soviet-Iranian
border in this area flows into the Caspian at Gasan-Kali. The terminus of the
Trans-Iranian Railway (Abadan - Bandar-Shah) is near there. The motor road
was an improved dirt road over bard.soil, In the mountains it was five to
seven meters wide,. which may be considered two-lane. it was wider elsewhere.
There was no roadbed, a little drainage,:and practically no bridges.. Drainage
at stream crossings was achieved by paving a "lotok" (trough-shaped spot) with
cobblestones and permitting the. water to pass over it. One drove through the
"lotok".. Particularly in the years-immediately preceding,World War II, the
military authorities requested the Turkmen SSR to maintain the road in good
it
.
condition. The Republican authorities did some maintenance work on
th
e
at present 957 the Soviet military also see to it that
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road remains in proper shape,. The soil of the area drains well. There are
practically no fields along the road and therefore one. is not limited to a
narrow route,.,.The road was used for maneuvers several times. Except for
spring and early summer, there was no water available:: on the section of road
from Kizyl-Arvat southwestward for about 40 kilometers, until the road reached
the Atrek River.. Water had to. be brought in by railway to Kizyl-Arvat. The,.
traffic?from.Cizy1-Arvat southwestward for about 25 kilometers to the turn-
off to.the Kara-Kara Valley consisted of about 25 vehicles per day. From
the turnoff to Chap, there were about 10 machines. From Chap to Gasan-Kali,
there were only about five vehicles. Most of the military transportation,
both of men and supplies, was by the Caspian Sea from Krasnovodsk to Gasan-
Kuli.
(c) Up to 1941 in Gasan-Kuli there was onl the headquarters of a "pogranichni
otriad" (border unit) of the NKVD Zvi. It was equivalent to 25X1
a regiment, which was spread out along the border. Along with the headquarters
at Gasan,?Kuli there was probably a company of the NKVD regiment, a sergeants'
school, and some cutters for sea patrol. There had been thought given, even
prior to World War Li, to station army troops in Kizyl-Arvat (a cavalry or
rifle regiment) and in Gasan-Kuli (an armored reconnaissance battalion).
It is probable that army troops are now 'Ll-1-9.5g stationed in those two,towas,, 25X1
5? The Ashkhabad - Gaudan road Lee, Enclosure 7 was built during the period 1933 -
August a military labor troops under my commend.
it was. well built,. Its length was 34 kilo AS 25X1
per agreement, the Iranians at the same time built a road from Gaudan on the
Soviet-Iranian border, to Meshed in Iran. The road was constructed for commercial
purposes and was, extensively used for trade. The.SOviets' obtained such Iranian
items as cotton, oranges, and wool. The road was also important militarily because
it could be used for a march on Kandahar and. Karachi. The road was nine meters
wide, surfaced with gravel, had a sand roadbed and drainage. It was open all
year. ,Traffic varied with trade relations between the USSR and Iran and with
the time of year. .,,It was approximately from 10 to 100 vehicles per day,
6. Theusua1 civilian traffic on the Samarkand - Ursatyevskaya road was of a local
character ~ee Enclosure f., The. normal route to travel would be from Samarkand
east to Mitan (or along the road north of the railway) to.Dzhizak. Then one would
definitely take the road which runs south of the railway and which extends to
Ursatyevskaya via Zaamin. No one traveled the route north of the railway in the
aamin region, because the area was, uninhabited, However, one could,drive over
he route across open country, but no road had really been built there.
(a) .r,at,l ~wq t ai? ^ - o f the . eectio of road from Samarkand to Dzhizak formed
an? improved dirt route,. nine meters wide, ? no roadbed, and little drainage.
It wasa poor road.. The last one-third was better, One merely drove across
open country and there had been no actual road building. It was an all-year
route, The traffic consisted of local kolkhoz vehicles and was somewhat heavier
nearw Samarkand,
(b) The stretch of road running south of the railway from Dzhizak to Ursatyevskaya
was for most of its length an improved dirt road. It was a poor one. The road
was nine meters wide, had no roadbed and . little. drainage. There was local
kolkhoz traffic.
(c) One may say that the Samarkand.,.- Ursatyevskaya road vas not good enough for
troop movement, particularly in its improved sections.,. Sustained military
traffic.vo l wreck the,road,and its br.dges..
(d) The, I Old Post Roa.d,,from Dzhizak to "poselok" Syr Darya was utilized only by,
the oc,caignal travelers between Samarkand and Tashkent. It was an excellent
route over which to drive most of the year and was open all year
One merel
.
y
drove over open country, (The remainder of the road network from Ursatyevskaya
and Ura-Tyube to Tashkent is shown in: greater detail, is Enclosure Aj
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(e) Roads in the area suitable for troop movement are;, 1) to Stalin.abad -from
Tashkent via Pskenta or via "poseloktt Syr Darya, and 2) $o samatkand and.
Termez - the., Old Post Road would definitely be used, and then the route via
Mitaaao
7. The Samarkand - Katta-Kurgan road . /-see, Enclosure P7 had only.local si ;nificance.
It was very poor. The road . paralleled- the railway and. most of the traveling was
done'by railway. The motor road was. ofthe improved dirt type, nine. meters wide,
had no roadbed. and very little drainage.. It was. open all year. The traffic was
light and of a local character. About 10 or:15 motor vehicles per day traveled
the road in the region nearer Samarkand,.. Several dozens of horse-drawn wagons
per day used the road. The road traversed a cotton-growing area.
8.. The Chimkent.m Laaaa vka - Dzhambul road Gee Enclosure was..part of the Old Post
Road which ran: from Tashkent via Chimkent to Dzhambul, The Chimkent , Vannovka -
Dzhambu.l section ran through rolling foothills and, had very little traffic.., because
of the small.?number of inhabitants in: the area and because most of the traveling
was done on the nearby railway. 25X1
It had,no mi1:i ;ary significance. and even its local significance was
small. The 'population was, scanty, not much cotton was grown in the area, and there
was very little irrigation, It was better than some of theother roads in Central
Asia, It had never actually been constructed or improved; one merely drove over
9. The Frunze Alma-Ata - Ili road see. Enclosure ff was; also an old -post. road.:
It was no longer important: after the, railway was built in 1929 and it ran through
sparsely settled country.. The. motor 'road had never ...actually been constructed and
one merely.drove over open country,. 'It was,not bad and was an all-year route?
The road was .only' of local, interest and had no military significance.. There was
very little traffic.- only local traffic, from kolkhoz to city, near Frunze and
AlmaAta4: Th re -was no regular through traffic, .
The Tashkent.- Cbimkeht road ?ee Enclosure 7 was else.part of the Old Post Ronde
For the first 30 kilometers northeast of Tashkent, it was paved with cobblestones.
It was seven.meters wide,. had a sand roadbed and some drainage,.. and had been built
in.Czarist times,... The rest.of the road had never actually been constructed and
ran over open country It.was.fairly good all year. The traffic was light, per-
haps five.: motor vehicles per.. day. . Because.. of .the 'general shortage of motor vehi-
cles and gasoline, most . moveement.. was, by railway.. In generals there was no regular
through ':traffic of. freight or.passenger. motor vehicles. in the ITSSRd.
1.1? The Bu'kh ra - Kagan road ee Enclosure B7 was 10 kilometers long. It was seven
meter..;w :de,. surfaced with. gravel:,:. and, had no roadbed and no'drainage. 25X1
It was open all year. The; road had-been built by the local Emir before the.Rus-
sian Revolution,. There was quite a bit of local traffic between.the two towns
as many persons lived in -Kagan, where the! better European quarters were located,
and worked in Bukhara,. which was the capital of D;-akhara."oblas.t." A single-track,
broad gauge railway paralleled the motor road. A passenger train composed of
five or seven o'd.cars made a round trip between Bukhara and Kagan four times a
day, operatingg;?like a local tramway..
12. The Bukhara Gizhduvanroad fee Enclosure f had also been.built by the.Emir. It
had not. been constructed properly from an engineering viewpoint, but gravel had
been dumped on it occasionally with the result that the roadway had become fairly
firm, having become ' a mixture of gravel and dirt,Thee width varied, averaging per-
haps from seven to nine meters and never becoming less than two-lane. There was
no roadbed and. no drainage, It_was. an all-year. route.. The: local traffic was
light, less than on the Bukhara-Kagan road.
13. The Mary (Merv). Chardzhou. road did not exist and does not now 25X1
195+..: One could travel from Merv toChardzhou on horseback. One-encountered
only desert and the main railway line, There were no settlements, except for
10 or ll railway stations., Everyone traveled this route by rail. About 200 or
300 persons lived at the railway station of Uch-Adzhi. These people had camels
and went to Chamchakly to gather sakeaul wood for fuel. A single-track, broad-
gauge railway line, which was moved from one location to another as needed,
extended from Uch-Adzhi to Chamchakly.
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ENCLOSURE (A) - Tashkent - Ura-Tyube Road Network of-to scalg7
(B) - The-Separkand - Kitab - Guzar Derbent - Terrmez Road and Other Routes }got to
(C) - The.Ashkhabad Kizyl-Arvat Gasan-Kuli Road Lnot "to scale/
(D) - The Samarkand - Urastyevskaya Road and Other Routes biot to .scalo7
(E) - The Chimkent - Vannovka - Dzhambul Road iot to.scaie7
(F) - The Frunze - Alma-Ata - Ili Road, Got to seal
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_~._ ... .t.~.a4 MVV UV bumlef
All railways are single-track and broad-gauge
unless otherwise indicated
g
Only
trac
trac
Chirchik River~gren
(Small copper mine)
Important stati
2 irrigation ca
cement plant, e
Dalverzin
Pskent
foundry, now
;y I - 30 km
Kaufoanskaya St.
(Yangi-Yul town)
Pakhta-Aral cotton sovkhoz (largest in Central Asia)
here, 112 cobblestone, uatverWin
on asoo
nals,
lectric
dg, a3rd
irrigatian
Can drive from Ursatyevskaya
to Begovat over open country,
some traffic (csnels and a
few cars), but no road.
narrow-gauge,
sin
le-track rr.
Fordson; .:
tor used on
ks.
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ENCLOSURE B
THE SAMARKAND - KITAB - GUZAR - DERBENT - TERMEZ ROAD AMID O1BER ROUTES
(to mid-19 2 and later. Not to scale)
.-Gizhduvan
tta-Kurgan
all railways are single-track,
broad-gauge
Dzhizak
1-9
0-101-1
Arnu -'---
Darya River
ferry Kerki
,;A
-Shirabad
To Ursatyev
I
O F- Mazar-i-Sharif
Jagan
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 t\?rasnovodsk
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both railway and road cross river
on the railway bridge
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TEM ..CHL%=T - VANNOVKA MHAAIMUL ROAD
Turksib Railway
CTiimkent
30 km - paved with cobblestone
Ta hkent
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ENCLOSURE
THE FRUNZE - ALMA-ATA - ILI ROAD
Continuation of Tashkeit-
Dzhambul-Lugovaya Old Post
Road. Had post horse stations
before railway was built.
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