The Minister of Transport, Sorin Grindeanu, stated on Monday during a working visit to the construction site of the Moldova Highway (A7), section 1 of the Ploiești-Buzău segment, that by the end of July or the beginning of August, traffic will be possible on the first 14 kilometers of the highway. For the first two sections between Ploiești and Buzău, the Ministry of Transport has provided precise deadlines to the contractor for completing the infrastructure works.
„We’ve set targets for them so that by the end of the month, Lot 2 will be at 70% completion and Lot 1 at a minimum of 65%. I announce that around the end of July, beginning of August, we will probably have traffic on the first kilometers of the A7 highway, referring to the first 14 kilometers on Lot 2,” stated the Minister of Transport.
Sorin Grindeanu later traveled to the A7 highway section between Buzău and Focșani, at Râmnicu-Sărat, where he once again emphasized that delays on the Pietroasele-Buzău section are not due to the Ministry of Transport.
„From what I have seen from Buzău to Râmnicu-Sărat, the works are extremely advanced, and after discussions with the contractor, they mentioned that Buzău-Focșani will be accessible by the end of this year, across the four lots. The mobilization is extremely good (…). I cannot emphasize enough that the missing section from Pietroasele to Buzău, due to some gentlemen and ladies at the CNSC (National Council for Solving Complaints), instead of talking about it and the traffic this year, unfortunately, the delay of a year and a half was not due to CNAIR (Romanian National Company of Motorways and National Roads), but to those evaluations and reevaluations that you are aware of, which will only allow us to talk about its completion in 2025. What bothers me greatly is that the solution we proposed in the summer of 2022 is the same one that was proposed by the CNSC after a year and a half, which is a year and a half lost that would have put us in a situation where this section would have been like Lots 1 and 2 from Ploiești to Buzău, namely accessible this year. But that’s how it is, we move forward, the mobilization is good even on that lot,” explained Sorin Grindeanu.
Regarding the works in the Râmnicu-Sărat area, the Minister of Transport highlighted that they are complex, involving the relocation of pipelines over 13 kilometers.
„There are crossings, and there have been many utility relocations. I’ll give you an example, almost 13 kilometers of pipelines to relocate, which is immense. This stretch of highway passed over 13 kilometers of pipelines that all had to be moved (…). If we continue at this pace, infrastructure will represent the key to Romania’s development in the coming years,” emphasized the Minister of Transport.