Romania’s highly anticipated Pitesti-Sibiu highway should be completed in 2021, one year earlier than the deadline specified in the Master Plan, said transport minister Sorin Buse.

The feasibility studies for the highway’s segments 1, 4, and 5 should be done by November 15, reports local Mediafax. The authorities plan to organize a tender for these segments’ technical design and construction contracts by November 30.

However, the final route for segments 2 and 3, which are also the most difficult as they pass through the mountains, will be completed in a few days, and the feasibility studies should be finalized by April 2017. The auction would be launched in May next year.

The Pitesti-Sibiu highway is one of the most anticipated highways as well as one of the biggest infrastructure projects carried out in Romania in the last 26 years.

Local transport and logistic operators as well as car maker Dacia have been asking the Government to prioritize this highway, which would make it easier to connect Romania's South-Eastern region, including the capital Bucharest, to Western Europe by road.

The Pitesti-Sibiu highway is part of Pan-European transport corridor IV, which makes it eligible for European funding. However, the Romanian authorities have inexplicably delayed this project.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com