Maintenance and conditions of the roadways in Karelian uyezds of the Olonets province

The study of the formation of the road network in the Olonets province opens up prospects for a more detailed consideration of the processes of penetration of cultural elements related to education, health, technological progress, intercultural interactions, etc. into Karelian villages. The formation of the Olonets province as an independent administrative unit in 1801 can be considered the start of the development of internal land roads in Karelia. The functions of supervising the main postal routes of the Olonets province were assigned to the provincial Road Commission. After the zemstvo reform of 1866, these powers were transferred to the zemstvo institutions of the province. The roads of the province were divided into two specific categories - zemstvo roads and side roads. Road repair works were the peasants’ natural duty. The condition of the postal roads and zemstvo tracts in the second half of the XIX century was characterized by the contemporaries as satisfactory. The side roads were in worse condition - they were often represented by horseback riding and hiking trails, narrow, rocky, and passing through swampy terrains. Transportation routes and bridges were of particular importance to the region. After establishing a special road fund in 1895, the zemstvos launched extensive activities aimed at the construction of cart roads in the province. These activities contributed to the emergence of a large-scale land road network in the region during the first decade of the XX century, which included postal roads, uyezd tracts, and side roads that could be used by wheeled transport.