Dancila said she expects the contract for the highway’s construction to be signed until the end of 2018.
She said the design and execution timetable is set for a maximum of four years, starting with 2019, with the Romanian Government to pay a premium if works are finished early, but also to issue penalties in case of delay.
The total cost for the investment is currently estimated at EUR1.36 billion.
The highway would link the capital Bucharest with the city of Brasov, and would pass through some of the most visited tourist mountain resorts in the Southern Carpathians: Sinaia, Busteni, Azuga, and Predeal.
Currently, the only road to link the aforementioned destinations is the heavily circulated DN1, which sees frequent traffic jams in tourist seasons and on weekends, especially on the Comarnic-Brasov section.
The highway is one of several projects which the Government aims to accomplish through a public-private partnership, a list which also includes the Targu Mures-Iasi-Ungheni and Bucharest-Craiova-Lugoj highways.