Third truck smashes into railing at Unirii underpass two days after reopening

Bucharest’s Unirii underpass, located in the most central point of the city, is proving to be too low for trucks after its EUR 12 mln makeover. Three trucks have so far smashed into the railing in the two days since its reopening.

A day after the underpass was reopened, a truck got stuck in the tunnel, dramatically slowing traffic. Another could not get through the underpass’ protection rail. Most recently, another truck smashed into the clearance railing meant to check the height of vehicles that can safely pass through the tunnel.

District 4's mayor, Daniel Băluță, claims that drivers who do not respect the maximum height indicator of 3.5 meters are to blame. “Follow the traffic rules and the signs, which are clearly displayed, the moment you enter the underpass. Otherwise, you risk injuring yourself or others, damaging your car, and incurring the restoration costs for any damage caused to the infrastructure,” said Băluță, cited by Euronews.

Other District 4 city officials, part of the opposition, say that poorly planned renovation works are the real culprit for the recent incidents. They argue that the newly-laid asphalt is thicker and that the ceiling was lowered too much. Taken together, this means that the current height indicators are no longer applicable.

The underpass had a maximum height of 3.6 m before the renovation, according to Buletin de București. A new false ceiling was installed during the makeover, but the height limitations for trucks were lowered by only 10 cm, to 3.5 m.

The renovation of the underpass cost District 4 roughly EUR 12 mln, and took 77 days.

(Photo source: Octav Ganea / Inquam Photos)