^{Infrastructure spending rose during boom times but failed to trickle down to the roadways partly due to graft. The abysmal network has become a drag on the economy and a horror story for truckers.}

By Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times

Over the last decade, as Vladimir V. Putin presided over an oil-rich, newly assertive nation, outside observers marveled at Russia's resurgence. But daily life inside the would-be superpower is still strained by mundane, fundamental failures.

As anybody who has tried to explore the country by car can testify, Russia's abysmal road infrastructure is perhaps the most pointed reminder of all the things left undone during long years of economic boom.

Outside the major cities, the roads are harrowing -- narrow and perilously pitted with potholes; groaning with cargo trucks; edges dropping off abruptly onto earth without a shoulder.

Even fresh pavement often ripples in waves, which are often coated with winter ice, sending tires skidding back and forth. And in many parts of Russia, the roads are simply unpaved.

Although spending on infrastructure has tripled over the last few years, drivers and experts agree that the cash has failed to trickle down meaningfully to the roadways, partly because it got snared in local corruption.

And now, with the GDP shrinking and the International Monetary Fund predicting zero economic growth in 2010, there is a growing fear that Russia may have squandered its best chance to reinvent itself.