Government authorities were not present at the opening. Local authorities said the section, built by the consortium SC Spedition UMB SRL – SC Tehnostrade SRL – Carena SpA Impresa di Construzioni, was finished in 12 months instead of the contracted 18 and the allowed speed limit is 130 kilometers an hour.
Paperwork to start construction of a second section, of 26.5 kilometers, is currently under evaluation by the national roads authority CNADNR.
The section open to traffic Tuesday cost de 210 million lei (EUR45.9 million), net of VAT, of which RON178 million came from European funds.
The entire Timisoara-Lugoj highway will be 35 kilometers long and will cost RON1,422 billion.
The road is part of the fourth pan-European transport corridor. The corridor route is Dresden – Nuremberg – Prague – Vienna – Bratislava – Gyor – Budapest – Arad, then parts into Timisoara – Deva – Sibiu – Pitesti – Bucharest – Constanta and Timisoara – Drobeta Turnu Severin -Vidin – Sofia – Thessaloniki.