The A8 motorway ( ro, Autostrada A8), also known as The Union Motorway ( ro, Autostrada Unirii) or the East-West Motorway ( ro, Autostrada Est-Vest) is a planned

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

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

, that will cross the

Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

to connect the historical regions of

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...

and

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. Early plans estimated the first opening as early as 2009. With a total length of around , and an estimated cost of 4.07 billion €, the motorway will begin from the junction with the A3 motorway near

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 census. It lies on the Mureș River, the ...

, and will run through

Sovata Sovata (; hu, Szováta; Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a town in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. Three villages are administered by the town: Căpeți (''Kopac''), Ilieși (''Illyésmező''), and Săcădat (''Szakadát''). In 2004, the vill ...

, Ditrău,

Târgu Neamț Târgu Neamț (; german: Niamtz, hu, Németvásár, he, נאמץ טרגו, la, Ante Castrum Nempch) is a town in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania, on the river Neamț. It had, , a population of 20,496. Three villages are administered ...

Pașcani Pașcani () is a city in Iași County in the Western Moldavia region of Romania, on the Siret river. , it has a population of 33,745. Five villages are administered by the city: Blăgești, Boșteni, Gâstești, Lunca, and Sodomeni. The city der ...

Târgu Frumos Târgu Frumos (also spelled ''Tîrgu Frumos'', sometimes ''Târgul / Tîrgul Frumos''), ) is a town in Iași County, Western Moldavia, Romania. Eleven villages were administered by the town until 2004, when they were split off to form Balș, Cost ...

and Iași. At its eastern end, the motorway will cross the

Prut The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

river at

Ungheni Ungheni () is a municipality in Moldova. With a population of 35,157, it is the seventh largest town in Moldova and the seat of Ungheni District. There is a bridge across the Prut and a border checkpoint to Romania. There is another border ...

to reach

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

's R1 highway, which further heads east towards Chișinău. The A8 motorway is divided into five segments: Târgu Mureș – Ditrău segment of , Ditrău – junction with DN2 (Pașcani area) segment of , DN2 – Iași segment of , Iași Nord bypass segment of , and Iași – Ungheni border segment (TBD). Pre-feasibility studies performed in 2007 were followed by feasibility studies in 2009–2011. As of February 2015, the feasibility study revision and update is being conducted by private contractors. The auction for the execution of the Târgu Mureș - Târgu Neamț segment were expected to be launched in 2021. The tenders for two sections (Section 1 - 22km:

- Miercurea Nirajului and Section 3 - 29.91km:

Leghin Pipirig is a commune in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of seven villages: Boboiești, Dolhești, Leghin, Pâțâligeni, Pipirig, Pluton, and Stânca. Natives * Nicodim, born Nicolae Munteanu (1864–1948), Patriarch o ...

–

) are set to be submitted by 27 February 2023 and 28 February 2023 respectively. The duration of the contracts are 30 months long, 6 months for planning and 24 months for the execution.

References

External links

CNADNR – Târgu Mureș - Iași - Ungheni
ttp://www.cnadnr.ro/sites/default/files/proiecte/traseu-targmures-ungheni.jpg alternate Proposed roads in Romania Motorways in Romania {{Romania-road-stub

See also

References

External links