Irkutsk Road Accidents Rise Amid Snow Removal Failures

The condition of Irkutsk«s roads and sidewalks this winter has raised many questions among both ordinary residents and city council deputies. The regional capital seems to have experienced every possible disaster this winter: snowfalls, thaws, and biting frosts — all of which could not help but affect the street situation. We found out how often citizens suffered due to poor road and sidewalk maintenance, based on official data.

In the comments, you can share your impressions of the appearance and condition of the streets this winter.

As the press service of the regional State Traffic Safety Inspectorate (STSI) told IrCity, from early December to late January, more than 3,600 road accidents occurred in Irkutsk. Of these, 105 (about 3% of the total) were directly linked to street conditions — due to «deficiencies in winter maintenance» (including icing and poor cleaning), broken speed bumps, non-working traffic lights, and missing road signs and markings.

City buses were involved in four such accidents, one of which was particularly high-profile. This refers to a collision of nine vehicles (including two minibuses and a bus) on the hill along Baikalskaya Street, which occurred in early December 2025. Only by a miracle did no one suffer any injuries in this accident. By the way, at the time of the collision, the hill on Baikalskaya was completely covered with compacted snow and ice. It was treated with de-icing agents only after the accident, and after some time it was completely cleared.

In total, nearly 100 people were injured in accidents related to poor road cleaning and other similar problems. There were no fatalities in the city during this period.

Unfortunately, the STSI has not yet specified which areas in the city are the most dangerous in terms of accidents, as the agency will compile accident statistics for 2025 during February.

«On a daily basis, inspections of Irkutsk«s highways are carried out, as well as monitoring of the automated information management system of the STSI for the presence of accidents caused by deficiencies in the transport and operational condition of the road network. Based on the identification of violations, supervisory response measures are taken, namely the issuance of orders and bringing road owners and contracting organizations to administrative responsibility,» the STSI reported.

But this winter problems arise not only for motorists. Irkutsk city council deputy and chief physician of Hospital No. 5, Olga Klevtsova, openly criticized the mayor for poor sidewalk cleaning. According to her, the administration cannot ensure safety even on the doorstep of the «gray house» (city administration building).

«It«s impossible to walk near the administration building, I just practically spread out at the door. Comrade mayor, what exactly are you doing if you can»t ensure safety near your own building, let alone across the whole city? What is happening? It«s snowing now, yes, but was it snowing yesterday too? Ice — it»s simply impossible to walk,» she stated at a deputy commission in mid-December.

The Ministry of Health of Irkutsk Oblast reported that due to «street injuries» from early December to late January, 1,247 people (including 11 children) sought hospital care. 61 victims required hospitalization.

By «street injuries» the medical community typically means injuries sustained outside the home (on streets, in parks, in the forest), most often due to falls (especially on ice) or road accidents. The number of injuries increases sharply in autumn, winter, and spring, which is associated with icy conditions, early darkness, and slippery roads.

The Irkutsk administration, in turn, assures that city services fight the elements every day. For example, on the night of February 2, road workers removed more than 14,000 tons of snow (although no one knows if this is a lot or a little). According to the head of the municipal enterprise Irkutskavtodor, Vasily Yefremov, most work is performed in the evenings and at night so as not to create problems for traffic.

«The main efforts are now focused on eliminating ruts and compacted snow on the roadway,» he clarified.

Utility workers also clean sidewalks, treat them with anti-icing materials, and tidy up bus shelters and pedestrian crossings.

Irkutsk Mayor Ruslan Bolotov has already explained why there are particularly many roads with ruts and compacted snow in the city this year. According to him, this is due to the abnormal frosts that hit the city in January.

«When the thermometer dropped below -38 °C (-36 °F) at night, the equipment did not work. Now we are doing everything to make up for lost time, remove ruts from Irkutsk streets, and clear sidewalks for comfortable movement,» the official said.

However, ruts and compacted snow in Irkutsk began to appear even before the frosts. This coincided with problems at the municipal Irkutskavtodor, whose accounts were temporarily frozen due to debts to contractors. Earlier, we collected responses from residents on the social media accounts of city authorities, walked through Irkutsk ourselves, and compiled a map of the most snow-covered places.

In case of unsatisfactory work by the service organization, Irkutsk residents can call the committee for the management of the respective district at the following numbers: Sverdlovsky — 52-03-51; Leninsky — 52-03-45, 52-02-23; Pravoberezhny — 24-11-20; Oktyabrsky — 52-02-48, 52-03-21, 52-00-81.

And you can complain about road cleaning to the municipal Irkutskavtodor at the number: 75-51-86.