A bill to approve the building of the Iași-Târgu Mureș highway called the Union Highway was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies of Romania as the decision-making body on November 7, IPN reports.

According to Agerpres.ro, the bill initiated by MPs of the People’s Movement Party and signed by representatives of all the parties provides that the Union Highway starts at Romania’s border with Moldova by a bridge over the Prut and ends by a connection to the A3 Brașov – Borș highway near Târgu Mureș city.

The Union Highway will be financed with state budget funds through the Ministry of Transport, with foreign loans and non-reimbursable European funds and/or through a public-private partnership.

Constantin Codreanu, MP of the People’s Movement Party, said the Union Highway will be 320 km long and will cost €4 billion according to the General Transport Master Plan of Romania. The works will start in 30 days of the promulgation of the law and will last for at most four years. The highway and the new bridge over the Prut are to be put into operation by December 1, 2022.

Agerpres quoted European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu as saying that the Târgu Mureș-Iași-Ungheni highway can be eligible for co-financing from European structural and investment funds and it is the responsibility of the Romanian authorities to prepare a bill to this effect. The accessibility of the northeastern part of Romania is very important as the Iași urban area is the most populated one in Romania after the capital Bucharest.