A1 motorway (Romania)

The A1 (Autostrada A1 in Romanian) is a motorway in Romania currently undergoing major expansion. As of December 2011, the sections in service include a 111 kilometre motorway linking Bucharest, the capital of Romania, with Piteşti, a city in Argeş County, the Sibiu motorway bypass (17.5 km, not connected to the Bucharest-Piteşti segment) and Timişoara–Arad motorway (in western part of Romania). The A1 was the first motorway to be built in Romania, and was constructed between 1968 and 1973 during the communist regime and upgraded in 2000.^[1] The Romanian A1 motorway is planned to be expanded to 579 km by 2020, connecting the capital city of Bucharest to the Banat region in western Romania and onwards to the Central European motorway system^[2] via Hungary's M5 motorway.

Openings timeline

• Bucharest-Piteşti Motorway (Romanian: Autostrada Bucureşti - Piteşti) , 96 km long, opened for traffic in 1972. It remained the only motorway-class road in Romania for more than 15 years, until the completion of the Feteşti-Cernavodă segment (on today's A2) in 1987. The Bucharest-Piteşti segment underwent major rehabilitation works and re-opened for traffic in early 2000.
• Piteşti East bypass: As an addition to the above section, a 15 km long segment of motorway, known as the Piteşti East bypass, opened in November 2007 in order to divert traffic from Piteşti city centre. An underpass in the Bascov area (north of Piteşti) was also built to connect the A1 motorway to DN7. The project was fully completed in late 2008.
• Sibiu bypass: The 17.5 km of motorway forming a partial beltway around Sibiu was completed on December 1st, 2010.
• Arad-Timișoara, 44.5 km, was opened 17 December 2011. 12 km (Arad bypass) were initially opened as a simple carriageway, and are to be completed by early 2012.
• next scheduled opening : Timişoara bypass (9,5 km) - late 2012

Extensions in progress

Nădlac-Arad

The construction of the 39 km segment between Nădlac and Arad was split into two parts. The first part (km 0 to km 22) was awarded in April 2011 to a consortium led by the Romanian company Romstrade, while the second section (km 22 to km 38) is to be constructed by the Austrian company Alpine. Works started in October 2011 and are due to be finalized within two years.

Timișoara bypass and Timișoara-Lugoj-Deva

The stretch between Timișoara and Lugoj (25.6 km) is to be re-auctioned due to appeals from participants at the previous auction. The segment between Lugoj and Deva is split into two segments. Works on the first segment (27.4km) have started in october 2011 are due for completion in 2013, while the remaining (72 km) hasn't been auctioned yet. The completion time for this last segment is 2016.

On the Timişoara bypass, works have started in october 2011 on the next segment - Timișoara bypass - 9.5 km long. The deadline for this segment is 2013.

Deva-Orăștie

The construction of this 32.5 km long section of motorway was finally awarded to the Austrian company Strabag in late 2010 after numerous appeals by other competing companies. Construction works started in April 2011 and should take no more than 24 months.

Orăștie-Sibiu

The 82km-long stretch of motorway between Orăştie and Sibiu was split as well in four sections. The contract for section 3 (km 43-km 65) was awarded in May 2011 to Impregilo, whereas the remaining three sections were awarded in June 2011, to Strabag - section 1 between km 0-km 24, Straco - Studio Corona section 2 between km 24-km 43, and Astaldi section 4 between km 65-km 82. Works have started on all four segments in October 2011 and are due to be operational by late 2013.

List of exits

References

External links

• A1 Bucuresti - Pitesti (youtube video)
• A1 Centura Sibiu (youtube video)
• A1 Centura Pitesti (youtube video)
• A1 on Google maps
• Motorways in Romania 2007-2013 (pdf file)
• Romanian Motorway Projects