Romania's Transylvania motorway, to be finished in four years

Transylvania motorway could be completed by 2020, says minister of Transport

Newsroom 23/02/2016 | 09:25

The minister of Transport, Dan Costescu, announced that if everything goes according to plan, the Transylvania motorway could be finished through to 2020.

The constructions works on this motorway were started in 2004. The 415 km would link Bucharest the border line with Hungary at Bors. US construction company Bechtel completed 51 km, but the state cancelled the contract in 2013, and paid the company EUR 1.4 billion. The total projected cost of the motorway was EUR 2.2 billion and should have been finished by 2020.

In so far, the motorway linking Bucharest to Ploiesti, part of the Transylvania road project, has been partially finished and has been opened.

“If all the procedures are respected and the ordinance for the acceleration of large infrastructure projects will kick in, it is possible to have it (the Transylvania motorway – e.n) finished by 2020, for some segments even earlier,” said Costescu, in Parliament.

At present, Romania has around 700 km of motorways.

Last week, Costescu stated the new completion deadline for the Pitesti-Sibiu motorway is 2021, two years earlier than the previous 2023 predictions. This is a separate project that has been requested by investors, mainly by car maker Dacia, controlled by France’s Renault.

The lack of developed road infrastructure has been cited by companies, both foreign and national ones, in recent years, as one of the main areas that hinders investments in the country.