The R504 Kolyma Highway is a road that goes through the Russian Far East, connecting the port town of Magadan with Nizhny Bestyakh town, located on the eastern bank of the Lena River.
While this may just sound like an ordinary route, it is far from it. Locally, the road is known as Kolyma Route, but it has also been given another name.
The road is also called the Road of Bones because of the route’s horrific history.
The main function of the road was to transport prisoners from Magadan through the Far Eastern section of Russia to the Soviet Union’s Gulags under Stalin’s rule.
And it was actually the prisoners who were forced to build the roads using hand tools, leading to hundreds of thousands dying.
It has been claimed that the bodies of the thousands of imprisoned labourers who died while constructing the road were left within its foundations, making the route a mass grave.
Today, the road stretches 1,160 miles and is the only route to get to Nizhny Bestyakh. It is recognised as being among one of the most dangerous routes in the world.
Most of the route is unpaved and has very few signs, crossing forests, mountains, and deserts. In the winter months, it becomes extremely dangerous because of the heavy snow and ice covering the route.
The temperatures get so cold that drivers refuse to wear glasses in case they freeze to their faces.
Conditions of the road in the summer are also an issue as it gets completely covered in mud. It is said that the only time when motorists can take the route is during the dry summer or in the winter when it gets frozen and is covered in ice.
However, regardless of the weather, the Kolyma route is still dangerous. Bears and other wildlife surrounding it also prove to be a hazard.
The Russian government have invested in improving the road. The Anadyr Highway project involves the construction of 1,100 miles of road. The project started in 2012, but it is not known when it will be completed.
