Romania may have one of the smallest motorway networks in Europe relative to size, and cost probably has a good deal to do with the situation. Figures show that the cost of the Transylvania Highway, comes to roughly €23m per kilometer.
But a new project announced recently by the Transport Ministry promises to be even more costly. Envisioned as a way for cars and trucks to cross the Eastern Carpathian mountains, connecting Iasi and Targu Mures, the 289 kilometer road will come at a cost of €30.8m per 1,000 meters.
That works out to a staggering €9bn, five times what critics of the project claim the price should be. The newspaper Romania Libera writes that the project is currently a paper tiger, as there’s no money available for its construction at the moment, and no plan as of yet on how to finance it.
Romania currently has just 450 km of motorway for cars and trucks.
