The Minister of Transport, Ciprian Serban, announced on Thursday that the completion and commissioning of the last section of the Craiova-Pitesti expressway (DEx 12) marked „an essential milestone for Romania’s road infrastructure”.

The Minister was present, before the opening of traffic, in the area of the connection between DEx 12 and the A1 motorway, in the area of Oarja in Arges County. He was accompanied by several local officials, including the President of the Arges County Council, Ion Minzina, and the Mayor of Craiova, Lia Olguta Vasilescu.

„With the reception of the last sector of section 4, approximately 13 km long, the entire high-speed road connection between Craiova and the A1 Motorway is functional. This allows, for the first time, uninterrupted traffic on a route of approximately 470 km of expressway: Craiova – Pitesti – Bucharest (A1) – Southern Capital Ring Road (A0) – Constanta (A2)”, Ciprian Serban posted on Facebook.

He added that the operationalization of the last section of the expressway brings a series of concrete benefits „by significantly reducing travel times, increasing road safety, facilitating the transport of goods and passengers, as well as improving the connection between the industrial center of Craiova and the Port of Constanta”.

The President of Arges County Council, Ion Mînzînă, recalled that the connection of the city of Mioveni, another important center of the automotive industry, with the national high-speed road system is also being considered.

„The Pitesti – Curtea de Arges section of the highway to Sibiu was recently inaugurated, and now we have connected the Pitesti – Craiova expressway to the highway to Bucharest. We have another important project at the Arges County Council, that of the Pitesti – Mioveni expressway. We have approved the documentation for this project, which will mean enormously for the development of the automotive industry in Arges and Dolj”, declared Mînzînă, quoted in a press release from the PSD Arges.

„Craiova – Bucharest has become a one-hour and 45-minute journey, as of today! We are now focusing on the construction of the Craiova – Lugoj Express Road. The Craiova Filiasi section already has a completed SF and the design and construction are in the procurement procedure,” Lia Olguta Vasilescu also wrote on Facebook.

DEX 12, whose last section of approximately 13 kilometers was opened to traffic on Thursday, has a total length of 121.1 kilometers, 107 structures (bridges, overpasses) and 10 road junctions. The investment value is 3.1 billion lei (excluding VAT), the financing being provided by non-reimbursable European funds (POIM and Transport Program 2021-2027).

AGERPRES