The head of Moldova’s State Road Administration, Sergiu Bejan, and the general director of the Avtomahistral-Pivden company (Ukraine), Mykola Tymofeev, have signed a contract for the construction of an 8.58-kilometer road bypassing the city of Vulcanesti.
The company announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
The new bypass road will become part (km 0+000 to km 8+580) of the M3 strategic highway Chisinau - Comrat - Giurgiulesti - Romanian border.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) funds the project.
Ukraine transferred 430 meters of the coastlines of the rivers Danube and Prut to Moldova in 2006, granting it access to the Black Sea. This resulted in the creation of the port of Giurgiulesti, from where there is a heavy flow of trucks to the Moldovan capital.
The M3 highway currently passes through the city of Vulcanesti, which creates inconveniences for both vehicles and residents. The new bypass road will redirect the flow of traffic outside the city.
"Residents of the city will no longer have to endure the noise from heavy vehicles, and air pollution in the city will be reduced," Moldova’s Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Lilia Dabija said.
For Avtomahistral-Pivden, the new project is a continuation of the project for rehabilitation and construction of the 85-kilometer M3 highway Chisinau - Giurgiulesti, which the company launched in 2019.
"Work under the new contract will begin in September. There is a desire to complete the project six months ahead of schedule. Therefore, we plan to put the new road into operation in mid-2025," Tymofeev said.
The new contract provides not only for the construction of a new road of about 8.58 kilometers long to the east and south of Vulcanesti. The works will include the construction of a 42-meter bridge; the construction of new embankments in the section km 2+800 - km 8+580; the rehabilitation of the side access roads to agricultural fields and rehabilitation of the intersection with the G142 regional highway Vulcanesti - Etulia.
