Have you ever wanted to go to Russia but can’t afford the airfare? You might be in luck.

According to a March 23 report in The Siberian Times, Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin has proposed a plan for a massive trans-Siberian highway that would link his country’s eastern border with the U.S. state of Alaska, crossing a narrow stretch of the Bering Sea that separates Asia and North America.

The idea was unveiled at a meeting of the Moscow-based Russian Academy of Science. “This is an inter-state, inter-civilization project,” the Siberian Times quoted Yakunin. “The project should be turned into a world ‘future zone,’ and it must be based on leading, not catching, technologies.”
Viktor Sadovnichy, the rector of Moscow State University, also called for a new high speed rail network, new oil and gas pipelines and new facilities for electricity and water supplies. Sadovnichy, who recently met with almost 100 rectors from universities in the Far East, said the network would boost the integration of people in these remote areas with the rest of the world.

“The main problem that we discussed was isolation. Up to 30% of talented young people graduating from schools leave these regions,” he said. Presently it is “virtually impossible” for a westerner to receive permission to arrive on the Russian shores of the Bering Strait.

According to the travel website Angus Adventures, anyone who wished to kayak, swim, walk over the ice or sail from Alaska to Siberia across the Bering Strait would have to do so illegally.
Just the idea of highway stretching from London, through Russia, and all the way to New York City sounds preposterous. Let’s look past all the questions of the project for now. Yes, the plan didn’t include any information on how to pay for it, and yes a way to cross the Bering Sea wasn’t discussed. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about all the good this project can bring.
The project would be the first of its kind and a monument stretching the globe. I’m sure that the building of this project would better many American’s opinions of the President Putin, and it’s not crazy to say relations might be better between our countries.
I sat down with Elder’s most knowledgeable teacher on world affairs, Mr. Spencer. Just to set the stage I asked Mr. Spencer his opinion of Vladimir Putin in general. The world cultures teaches stated “Putin is former KGB” and that he wants to “make Russia stronger. Which you can see by him attacking the Crimea.”

When asked about improved relations between the countries with the construction of the project Mr. Spencer replied “It doesn’t matter, it will never be built, no one has the money for it, oil prices dropping, hurting economy and the US is in too much debt.”

That answer pretty much shot down the rest of my interview agenda, but it does hold a lot of truth.
There are many reasons why this probably won’t be built. That doesn’t mean new all can’t still toss around the idea in our heads. I hope someday we get to see this massive project get set into motion.