Romania’s TransBucegi high altitude road to be officially inaugurated this month

Romania’s TransBucegi (DJ 713) high altitude road, which is the main access road in Bucegi Mountains, is set to be officially inaugurated on August 31, 2013. A total of 16 km have been asphalted in recent years, and guard rails are currently being installed. The total investment amounts to some EUR 11 million (RON 50 million). According to Mircea Cosma, President of Prahova County Council, works on TransBucegi started in 2010. “Now we can drive to Babele natural monument, and TransBucegi is even more spectacular than the famous Transalpina,” he added, quoted by local publication Jurnalul Prahovean. TransBucegi is the third high altitude road in Romania, after Transfăgărăşan and Transalpina, and reaches an altitude of 1925 meters. The spectacular Transfăgărăşan was built on the orders of Communist era dictator Nicolae Ceausescu between 1970 and 1974 to ensure a military strategic route through the mountains. It includes Romania’s longest road tunnel (887 meters). The Transalpina is considered among the most picturesque in the country and has a long history: originally a Roman road, it was paved in the 1930s and renovated by the Nazis in World War II. It was constructed on an old shepherd trail known as the Poteca Dracului (the Devil’s Path). Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: transbucegi.ro)