The EU will contribute EUR177.4 million; the remaining EUR79.2 will be provided from the state budget.
The consortium has completed the design stage and will begin construction work by the end of the month. The project entails building 11.43 km of connecting road, five bridges, a viaduct, 17 tunnels, four road junctions, a maintenance center, and a parking and services area.
According to the Transport Ministry, building the Lugoj-Dumbrava highway will reduce the average travel time to 20 minutes and the accident rate to 62.3%.
The Commission previously approved non-refundable financing for the segments Nadlac-Arad and Orastie-Sibiu, worth a total EUR724 million. These three segments are part of Pan-European Corridor IV.