The A8 motorway (), also known as The Union Motorway () or the East-West Motorway () is a planned

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, that will cross the

Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

to connect the historical regions of

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

and

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. It will directly link the cities of

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

and

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

. The A8 motorway route is an integral part of the Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) Core Network. As of May 2025, five sections are under design and construction, while all of the remaining sections are tendered.

History

Early plans estimated the first opening as early as 2009. With a total length of around , and an estimated cost of 4.07 billion €, the motorway will begin from the junction with the A3 motorway near

, and will run through

Sovata Sovata (; ; Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a town in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. Three villages are administered by the town: Căpeți (''Kopac''), Ilieși (''Illyésmező''), and Săcădat (''Szakadát''). In 2004, the village of Săr� ...

, Ditrău,

Târgu Neamț Târgu Neamț (; , , , ) is a town in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania, on the river Neamț. It had, , a population of 18,029. Three villages are administered by the town: Blebea, Humulești, and Humuleștii Noi. History Originally ...

Pașcani Pașcani () is a city in Iași County in the Western Moldavia region of Romania, on the Siret river. , it has a population of 30,766. Five villages are administered by the city: Blăgești, Boșteni, Gâstești, Lunca, and Sodomeni. The city der ...

Târgu Frumos Târgu Frumos (also spelled ''Tîrgu Frumos'', sometimes ''Târgul / Tîrgul Frumos''), ) is a town in Iași County, Western Moldavia, Romania. Eleven villages were administered by the town until 2004, when they were split off to form Balș, Cos ...

and

. At its eastern end, the motorway will cross the

Prut The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , ) is a river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube, and is long. Part of its course forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates on the eas ...

river at

Ungheni Ungheni () is a municipality in Moldova. With a population of 35,157, it is the seventh largest town in Moldova and the seat of Ungheni District. There is a bridge across the Prut and a List of Moldova–Romania border crossings, border chec ...

to reach

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

's R1 highway, which further heads east towards

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

. The A8 motorway is divided into five segments: Târgu Mureș – Ditrău segment of , Ditrău – junction with DN2 segment of , DN2 – Iași segment of , Iași Nord bypass segment of , and Iași – Ungheni border segment (). Pre-feasibility studies performed in 2007 were followed by feasibility studies in 2009–2011. As of February 2015, the feasibility study revision and update is being conducted by private contractors. The auction for the execution of the Târgu Mureș - Târgu Neamț segments was expected to be launched in 2021.

Sections

The tenders for two sections (Section 1 - :

- Miercurea Nirajului, and Section 3 - : Leghin –

) were set to be submitted by 27 February 2023 and 28 February 2023 respectively. On 20 September 2023, the contract for the design and execution of the Leghin – Târgu Neamț section (between Vânători-Neamț and Boureni (junction with DN2)) was signed with the SA&PE Construct- Spedition UMB-Tehnostrade association. In February 2024, the contract for the design and execution of the Târgu Mureș - Miercurea Nirajului section was signed with Nurol. The duration of the contracts are 30 months long, 6 months for planning and 24 months for the execution. The tender for the design and execution of section 1B Miercurea Nirajului - Sărățeni () was to be submitted by 22 May 2024, and by 25 June 2024 for section 2C Pipirig – Leghin (). As of January 2025, four other sections, 1C Sărățeni - Joseni (), 1D Joseni - Ditrău (), 2A Ditrău - Grințieș (), and 2B Grințieș - Pipirig () were also under tender. In March 2025, the contract for the design and execution of the Ditrău - Grințieș section (2A) was signed with the SA&PE Construct-Tehnostrade-Euro Asfalt- Spedition UMB association. The duration of the contract is 54 months long, 14 months for planning and 40 months for the execution. Until the end of May 2025, two more contracts were signed for the sections 2C Pipirig - Leghin, and 1B Miercurea Nirajului - Sărățeni.

References

External links

CNADNR – Târgu Mureș - Iași - Ungheni
ttp://www.cnadnr.ro/sites/default/files/proiecte/traseu-targmures-ungheni.jpg alternate Proposed roads in Romania Motorways in Romania {{Romania-road-stub

History

Sections

See also

References

External links