A new bridge which will unite Bulgaria and Romania, also known as Danube Bridge 2, will be ready for the official opening on May 9th, on Europe Day, Novinite.com reports. Boyko Borisov, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, announced that José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, and Johannes Hahn, the Regional Policy Commissioner will personally attend the opening ceremony on May 9th.
The Bulgarian Prime Minister inspected the bridge on Wednesday, traveling by car its entire length. Transport Minister, Ivaylo Moskovski, who was also present at this visit, said that the construction works will be fully completed in April, thus enabling to launch it officially on Europe’s Day. The minister explained that 98% of the works on the Danube Bridge 2 is already completed.
This new Bulgaria-Romania Danube Bridge is of an international importance as it is a key element in the development of the Pan-European Transport Corridor ІV. Danube Bridge Vidin-Calafat is also important for the entire South-East European Transport Axis and the Trans-European Transport network offering new traffic connections.
This project includes the design and construction of a combined (road and railway) bridge with four road lanes, one single railway track, a bicycle lane and two pavements for pedestrians and services for the Bulgarian side. Also, adjoining road and railway infrastructure will be developed in this country. In what Romania is concerned, the project includes the construction of 5 km of new railway line, 5 km first class road and a terminal station for joint border control and automobile transport toll charging.
The Danube Bridge 2 has a budget of Euro 225,145,000, for the Bulgarian side and another Euro 48 million for the Romanian side.