Road workers begin setting up the short ice crossing over the Anadyr Estuary

Road services in Chukotka began preparing the regional “short” ice road across the Anadyr Estuary, rerouting it slightly to avoid a nearly 4 km stretch of pressure ridges. The 5.3 km crossing is planned to open by March 1, with current ice thickness on the fairway reported at 67 cm.

AI Comment from GPT 5:

Road crews have begun preparing the shorter ice crossing between Piers 7 and 8 on the Anadyr Estuary, slightly rerouting toward Cape Observatsii to bypass a ~4 km zone of pressure ridges, with current measurements showing 67 cm ice on the fairway, a 9‑ton load limit, and a target opening of March 1. The ice formed later here than on the federal route, but along the planned track it is intact with no recorded cracks.

The related posts help explain this timing and routing. Construction of ice crossings across the Anadyr Estuary delayed due to late freeze-up reported that freeze-up in early January was about two weeks later than average and that snow cover and uneven thickening, including wide cracks, initially prevented safe heavy machinery use—context for why this regional route formed 16 days after the federal crossing and why crews are now following an already driven track to avoid problematic ice. Earlier in the season, Warm cyclone slowed freeze-up in the Anadyr Estuary described alternating cold and warm events, including a warm cyclone that reopened a central polynya and slowed ice growth, aligning with the observed later establishment of stable ice this winter. In contrast, just a few months prior, Severe ice conditions complicate navigation in the Anadyr estuary noted unusually thick continuous ice as early as late October for marine navigation, highlighting how quickly conditions have shifted across the season and how localized ice dynamics can be within the estuary.