The technical and economic indicators of the “Unirii” A8 highway, the mountain section from Merkur Nirajului to Legin, were approved on Thursday at the Technical and Economic Council of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. Final cost? 7.5 billion euros, more than a billion euros more than what was approved for the same project under CNAIR’s CTE at the end of August.

“The €7.5 billion project has been approved,” wrote State Secretary Irinel Ionel Skriošteanu, who announced the approval of the feasibility study for section 2 of the A8 from Mierkur Niražului (Mureş) to Legin (Nämts).

The total length of the Mercury Nirajului – Legin section will be 159.2 km, and its route will include:

• 5 transport junctions at the intersection of DN13A (Sovata), DN13B (Joseny), DN12 (Ditreau), DN15 (Tulgesh), DN15B (Pipirig),

• 437 buildings (119 bridges, 19 passageways, 117 viaducts, 179 pedestrian bridges),

• 47 tunnels, with a total length of 11.64 km (with individual lengths from 70 m to 940 m).

• 4 short-term parking lots, 1 escort and service point, 6 service rooms, 2 service and coordination centers.

The same project, approved in CTE CNAIR, had a lower cost of 6.4 billion euros

On August 24, the head of CNAIR, Christian Pistole, announced that the technical and economic indicators were approved for the same project, but at the Highway Company level.

Pistol then announced that the project, financed through the Transport Program (PT), has a total estimated cost of 31.56 billion lei (excluding VAT), i.e. 6.4 billion euros.

“Unirii” highway A8 – connection between Moldova and Transylvania

The A8 “Unirii” motorway is almost 320 km from Tirgu Mures (junction with A3) to Iasi and Ungeni, on the border with the Republic of Moldova. The sections from Tirgu Mures to Merkur Nirazului (approx. 25 km) and from Legin to Tirgu Neamts and to Moc/DN2 (approx. 30 km) are covered by PNRR funding and have been auctioned and have essential conditions to not lose funding: be ready until 2026.

The first section, from Leghin to Moțca (DN2), has just been contracted to UMB.

In the “mid-mountain” section, the renewal of the feasibility study started in 2019 and was only recently completed, and a tender for design and implementation is expected by the end of the year.

For the Moțca/DN2 – Iasi – Ungen section, field studies were only carried out this year after the project was blocked for more than a year at the route selection stage.