Romania issues order to start design work for 45 km of A8 motorway, construction eyed for mid-2027

The National Road Investment Company (CNIR) issued the start order on 12 June for sections 1 and 3 of the A8 motorway between Moțca and Ungheni, financed through the European Union's SAFE programme. The 45 kilometres of highway, split into two technically demanding lots, will now move through a 10-month design stage before construction gets underway in favourable weather.

Timeline from order to construction

Although the order was signed on 12 June, the actual design work will not start until 24 August. That two-and-a-half-month gap is required under public procurement law: builders must first submit a performance bond and supervising engineers need to be appointed, and all existing documentation (feasibility study, environmental permits, topographical surveys) handed over. Once the design phase officially begins, engineers will have 10 months to complete technical plans, pushing the finish to late June 2027. CNIR director general Gabriel Budescu said the schedule was set so that "after the 10 months allocated to the design phase, actual works will begin in June 2027, right in the favourable construction season." By that calendar, heavy equipment will be mobilised in early summer 2027, bypassing wet spring months that could slow earthworks.

“I issued the order today for starting the design of 45 kilometres of the A8 with SAFE funding. These are two lots with high technical complexity, with many structures, bridges, viaducts and tunnels, and after the 10-month design period, actual works will begin in June 2027, in the favourable construction season.”

Two sections with dense engineering

Lot 1 runs 27 km from Moțca (Târgu Neamț) to Târgu Frumos and contains 36 bridges and viaducts, four tunnels and three interchanges at Moțca, Pașcani and Târgu Frumos. A top-priority 5.5 km segment will be built within 12 months to connect the Leghin–Târgu Neamț section of the A8 and the A7 Moldova Motorway on the Bacău–Pașcani axis. Lot 3 spans nearly 18 km between Lețcani and DN24 (Iași) with 18 passages, six tunnels and two interchanges at the junctions with county road DJ 282 and national road DN24.

Financing and contractors

Both contracts were signed roughly two weeks before the start order and are funded by the EU's SAFE programme. The builders are consortiums of Romanian and Spanish companies, though the articles do not name the individual firms. Secretary of state in the transport ministry Horațiu Cosma described the contracts as signed "only two weeks ago and carried out by constructors from Romania and Spain."

“The new road company CNIR has issued the order to start designing lots 1 and 3 of the Moțca–Iași–Ungheni Motorway, and 24 August has been set as the date for the actual start of the design stage. The two contracts, financed through the SAFE Programme, were signed only two weeks ago and are being carried out by constructors from Romania and Spain.”

Remaining lots await contract awards

The Moțca–Iași–Ungheni corridor includes two further lots, numbered 2 and 4. The transport ministry said it is waiting for the National Council for Solving Complaints (CNSC) to finalise procedures before contracts can be signed for those sections. No timeline was given for when that might happen.

“Step by step, kilometre by kilometre, the Union Motorway A8 takes shape. A strategic project for Moldova and for the whole of Romania, which brings communities closer, creates opportunities and better links the historical provinces of the country. The Union Motorway is no longer just a project on paper. Every day it becomes a reality ever closer to millions of Romanians.”