Romanian authorities plan to widen highways out of Bucharest to three lanes

Romania’s Road Company (CNAIR) issued a tender for a feasibility study for the widening of the three highways that originate in Bucharest, the A1 Bucharest-Pitesti highway (110 km), the A2 Bucharest-Constanta segment up to Fundulea (24 km), and the A3 Bucharest-Ploiesti highway from Moara Vlasiei to the Dumbrava’s point of contact with A7 (Moldova Highway). The widened highways will ensure traffic capacity for a period of 30 years, according to CNAIR's estimation.

The urban highway section on A3 and beyond, to Moara Vlasiei in Ilfov (19.5 km), is the only three-lane highway section in Romania.

"The main objective of the project is the phased increase of the transport capacity of highways A1 (Bucharest-Pitesti sector), A2 (Bucharest-Fundulea), and A3 (Moara Vlasiei-Dumbrava), respectively, turning them into three-lane highways on both sides. The technical documentation will address the identification of phased solutions for increasing the transport capacity so that the traffic on A1, A2, and A3 will run safely and comfortably, according to the requirements of current and future traffic, for 30 years, by implementing modern technical solutions,” CNAIR says in a document cited by Economedia.ro.

The contract for the feasibility study is for 18 months, with a value between RON 19.5 million and RON 23 million, and offers can be submitted until April 13.

The A1 Bucharest-Pitesti highway is one of the most congested routes in the country, with lines on the Ciorogarla-Militari section (Iuliu Maniu/entrance to the beltway) routinely stretching for several kilometers. The widening of the A3 Moara Vlasiei-Dumbrava segment is necessary because, from 2024-2025, the Bucharest-Ploiesti highway will take over a large part of the traffic from DN 2 Bucharest-Bacau (E 85).

In the case of the so-called Sun Highway to Constanta, the Bucharest-Fundulea section is particularly crowded during the summer season. The first kilometers of the A0 Bucharest South Highway, the two Alsim Alarko Bragadiru-Vidra-Sun Highway lots (33 km), will also be open for traffic this autumn.

The contract for the feasibility study that will provide technical solutions for the widening of the three highways is financed from non-repayable European funds, according to the head of CNAIR, Cristian Pistol.

(Photo source: Dannicolae |