Romania opens new segment of much-awaited Moldova highway

Traffic on Lot 1 of the A7 Ploiești-Buzău highway, stretching 21 kilometers in southern Romania, was officially opened on Monday, December 23. With this opening, 102 kilometers of the total 320 kilometers of the highway are now usable.

The Moldova Highway, as it has been called, is meant to connect Romania's economically underdeveloped eastern regions to the rest of the country. The newly-opened section runs from the 0-kilometer marker at the junction with the A3 Bucharest-Ploiești Highway near Dumbrava to the 21-kilometer marker at the junction with County Road DJ 100C.

Cristian Pistol, the head of the National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR), stated that this milestone means 102 kilometers of the A7 are now in use, out of the 320 kilometers planned to be built under Romania's Recovery and Resilience Plan, or PNRR.

Ionel Scrioșteanu, secretary of state in the Ministry of Transport, remarked that this is the fifth lot of the A7 highway opened to traffic.

“The A7 Moldova Highway is Romania’s first highway fully under construction (13 lots, 320 km). Once completed, it will connect Moldova and Muntenia (southern Romania) through modern road infrastructure. It was included in the 2021-2030 Investment Program for the development of Romania’s transport infrastructure, drafted and approved between 2020 and 2021, and represents the largest road infrastructure project funded by the PNRR,” Scrioșteanu added.

“We conclude the year with approximately 197 km opened. Currently, in Romania, there are approximately 1,280 km of high-speed roads in use,” Transport minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Facebook.

The minister boasted 286 km of high-speed roads opened in 2023 and 2024 and promised another 250 km in 2025.

At the beginning of the year, Grindeanu promised to have at least 250 km of highways completed by the end of the year, a goal he nearly met.

(Photo source: Sorin Grindeanu video capture on Facebook)