​”Another nail in the coffin of the alternative 2+1 system in Romania,” writes the Pro Infrastructure Association, which criticizes aspects of the alternative 2+1 road standard put out for public discussion by the Ministry of Transport and CNAIR, the roads and road company.

Pro Infrastructure draws attention to the fact that the Ministry of Transport and CNAIR are conducting the procedure for adopting the new standard AND 617-2023, which will regulate traffic on roads with platforms (width) of 12-14 meters in alternative version 2. +1 profile. Like, for example, the famous “death road” DN2 (and DN28) from Bucharest to Iasi.

The association Pro Infrastructure “has persistently demanded, since 2016, that this solution be urgently implemented on the deadly roads DN2/E85 (Afumati-Sabaoani), DN1C (Cluj-Napoca-Dei) and DN28 (Sabaoani-Iasi)”.

The organization says the news that such legislation is being discussed is “great news” and welcomes it, but says “the devil is in the details”.

“Not only that, some of the technical provisions of the new regulation are incorrect, and some of them seem to have been written there in order to finally put an end to this life-saving solution.

In an effort to save lives, we sent the ministry representatives a document with our observations and recommendations, the content of which is attached to this release, which we ask you to read in order to understand the advantages of the alternative profile 2+1 and how we risk that the authorities will bury it,” says API.

• “In fact, the biggest problem is the lack of mandatory installation of a dividing parapet, doubled by the obligation to create an extended shoulder by 2.5 m (!!!) if the road administrator wants a dividing parapet. Two provisions, the first at least inappropriate and the second useless and incorrect, can finally destroy the idea of ​​implementing the alternative profile 2+1 in Romania.
• In the paper, I explained in detail why the parapet is the ONLY structural element that ensures that the alternative 2+1 system achieves the highest possible level of safety, which, from the demonstrated experience of other leading countries in the road safety section, is similar to this highway, which has approx. 5 times fewer deaths per kilometer of travel compared to 1+1 roads with heavy traffic.
• On the DN2 Sinești-Movilita test sector, there were only two fatal accidents after switching to the 2+1 alternative: one with an involuntary crossing into the oncoming road and the other due to a triple maneuver over a solid double lane by an unconscious driver. The separating barrier would have significantly reduced the severity of the first accident, and the second one would have been completely eliminated! – says Pro Infrastructure.

“So, after 7 years of agony in which the Pro Infrastructure Association has been fighting windmills at both CNAIR and MT, and in society with some citizens who refuse to understand simple things, we have come to this: at best, the authorities have no idea that it should be designed and regulated, and in the worst case, they deliberately condemn us to death,” the Association draws attention.

Read Pro Infrastructura’s full, documented letter here regarding the changes required by AND 617-2023, which is up for public comment.