DN3

DN3 ( ro, Drumul Național 3) is a national road in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, originally linking

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

via

Călărași Călărași (), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the banks of the Danube's Borcea branch, at about from the Bulgarian border and from Bucharest. The city is an industrial centre f ...

, but no longer serving this purpose for more than four decades. The road is not complete, in the sense of having a gap across the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

between Călărași and Ostrov. The gap is covered by ferry-boats operated by two private companies every 30–35 minutes during the day and every 45–90 minutes during the night. When designated as a trunk route, in the early 1960s, this was the shortest road between Bucharest and Constanta, as, at that time, there were no road bridges connecting

Dobrudja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

with the rest of Romania (the

King Carol I Bridge The Anghel Saligny Bridge (formerly King Carol I Bridge) is a complex of two railroad truss bridges in Romania, across the Danube River and the Borcea branch of the Danube, connecting the regions of Muntenia and Dobruja. The bridge is listed i ...

at Cernavodă being rail only). As road bridges over the Danube were constructed, the first one in 1970 at Giurgeni – Vadu Oii, and the second one at

Fetești Fetești () is a city in Ialomița County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located in the Bărăgan plain, on the Borcea branch of the Danube. Fetești has the second largest population in Ialomița, after Slobozia. In 1895, the King Carol I railway ...

–

Cernavodă Cernavodă () is a town in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania with a population of 20,514. The town's name is derived from the Bulgarian ''černa voda'' (черна вода in Cyrillic), meaning 'black water'. This name is regarded by ...

(

Cernavodă Bridge The Cernavodă Bridge is a complex of two freeway-railroad truss bridges in Romania, across the Danube River, connecting the cities of Cernavodă and Fetești, between the regions of Dobruja and Muntenia. Inaugurated in 1987, the bridges have ...

) in the late 1980s, the road lost almost all importance. Currently, the main road connection between Bucharest and Constanta is done via the A2 motorway, opened between 2004 and 2009, while

is served through an exit from the same motorway at Drajna. Currently, the route is very sparsely used between Bucharest and Călărași, mainly by commuters between Bucharest and its suburbs of Pantelimon and Brănești, as well as by villagers along its route, as a feeder to A2. Between Ostrov and Constanta, the road provides a vital link between southwestern Dobrudja and the rest of the country. However, as southwestern Dobrudja is sparsely populated, with no notable towns or cities (Ostrov being the biggest, at slightly over 5000 inhabitants), that stretch of the road is sparsely used as well. DN3 connects with the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n road network through a border crossing facility at Ostrov –

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Sil ...

(Bulgaria), immediately after the ferry landing. Thus, if counting the Călărași-Ostrov ferry as part of the DN3 road, it can be said that one of the main remaining roles of DN3 is providing a connection between

and

. Note that as of 2009, there is also a direct, newly built Călărași – Silistra ferry, but is far slower (takes almost 2 hours to cross the 8 km distance) and far more infrequent. Roads in Romania {{Romania-road-stub