Romanian Parliament to decide whether municipality can build tunnel underneath People's Palace

Bucharest traffic should get better once the new so called Bucharest in-city highway connecting the capital city's North to its South will be finalized, the authorities hope. The new street however will include a tunnel underneath the People's Palace, which may delay things a bit, as several extra permits and OKs are needed. The Chamber of Deputies will have to cast its vote on the project, but only after the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) and the Ministry of National Defense will give green light. So far, the Chamber of Deputies agreed in principle with the tunnel, but most likely the new parliament, after the December elections, will have to decide. A 37-meter tunnel underneath the Parliament hill will be part of the project that is meant to help improve traffic conditions in Bucharest. The new in-city highway, announced in 2010 by Bucharest Mayor Sorin Oprescu would connect the Buzesti boulevard to Calea Rahovei, allowing cars to cross Bucharest from North to South in 20 minutes. The value of the project would be of some EUR 330 million. It would have two stages, the first of which including work on Berzei area, and the second from the Vasile Parvan boulevard to Hasdeu bridge, then connecting to the tunnel and going further to Cosbuc square, on the new Uranus boulevard. The People’s Palace, which now houses the Romanian Parliament, is the world's largest civilian building, most expensive administrative building, and heaviest building. Built under the communist regime in the 80s, and completed in 1997, after the fall of the communism, the Palace is 12 stories tall with four underground levels. It has a floor space of 340,000 sqm, and the cost of building it was estimated at some EUR 3 billion. editor@romania-insider.com