Improving the connection to the TEN-T network in the cross-border area Medgidia - Dobrich

A diagnostic analysis made on Dobrogea region on both sides of the border reveals the following common challenges: economic gap compared to other European regions; poor connectivity between Ro-Bg administrative units and communities in terms of infrastructure, despite the fact that in the last years people and economic agents have developed a lot of common actions and business; one of the highest level in EU regarding car accidents (including those resulting in deaths); low rolling speed on roads generating long delay times in traffic. The project main objective is to bring together communities and businesses from Medgidia and Dobrich by improving the cross-border transport system using a better connection to TEN-T network. Both cities are situated in Dobrogea region, with a good opportunity for a strong connection to TEN-T. But this opportunity is impaired by the poor road infrastructure, including the beltways. This leads to congested inner-traffic, including traffic jams, shorter lifespan for inner roads because of heavy traffic vehicles passing by, diminished opportunities for the economic agents in the region and an inefficient multimodal transport network. Medgidia, defined as tertiary node by the Applicant’s Guide map, is situated near A2 highway, part of TEN-T. Still, most of its citizens dont benefit from modernized infrastructure leading to TEN-T. This is due primarily to the fact that the heavy-duty vehicles which are passing-by Medgidia avoid using the beltway, given its very poor state. As a result, the inner-city roads are deteriorating and the traffic gets congested due to the fact that the transporters dont have an alternative route. This also has a negative impact on traffic safety. It’s important to note that Medgidia is a multimodal node, as highlighted on the Applicant’s Guide map. But the interconnection between roads and waterways is inefficient due to the same factors specified above. Parts of the roads proposed to be modernized represent the direct connection of the city to the Medgidia Fluvial Port, having thus a strong multimodal importance, and the other roads in the project lead to the exit towards A2 highway, thus representing a direct connection to TEN-T. Dobrich, defined as secondary node by the Applicant’s Guide map, has 3 alternatives for connecting to TEN-T: through National Road (NR) 27 leading to TEN-T on the Bg Black Sea coast – E87 (Balchik area), through NR71 leading to Danube (multimodal node Silistra) and also to TEN-T E87 on Black Sea Coast and through NR29 connecting on one hand with TEN-T E87 on Varna area and on the other hand connecting with network E675-E87 leading to Ro Black Sea coast, while also passing the custom point Kardam-Negru Voda. The challenge faced by Dobrich is the same as the one described for Medgidia: the poor road infrastructure and the bad shape of its roads, especially the ones leading to the city exits, and thus to TEN-T. The city has a ring-shaped road infrastructure surrounding it (the beltway). Its important to ensure a proper connection of the inner-city streets to this ring. For this, the project aims to rehabilitate and modernize the main road artery of the city, namely Blv Dobrudzha. Its the road that leads to NR71 and NR27 and therefore to TEN-T. The road splits the city in 2 and its, by far, the most important road of the city. The other road proposed for modernization, Nikola Petkov str., connects the South entrance to North-East represented by NR27 leading to Black Sea. Its ideal for passenger cars, as it’s the shortest route and it also represents an alternative for the heavy-duty traffic, in case the beltway is impracticable. It has to be mentioned that Nikola Petkov’s indirect connection to TEN-T passes by Blv Dobrudzha. Thus, the 2 roads are interconnected, and their modernization ensures better infrastructure in 2 out of 3 TEN-T connections, while marking 3 of the 4 cardinal points of the city (W, S, E). Also, both cities lack in terms of mechanisms to facilitate the connection to the TEN-T infrastructure: bilingual route guidance (including for alternative routes), traffic safety measures (warning signs, establishing right-of-ways etc), awareness raising activities (separately from the information activity of the project). All of these will be implemented through the project, establishing them as joint mechanisms. The project specific objective is to ensure better traffic conditions for the population of the 2 cities, as well as for the other traffic participants who are transiting. Practically, the project will succeed in delimitating the heavy-duty traffic from the passenger traffic in Medgidia, ensuring thus a reduction of the travel time and an increase in traffic safety, while also linking properly the city to TEN-T and Medgidia Port and in modernizing the main road in Dobrich, ensuring a reduction of the travel time and an increase in traffic safety, while improving the connections leading to TEN-T in 2 directions. The project contributes to the output indicators I1 - Total length of reconstructed or upgraded roads with approximately 11 km of modernized roads and to I2 - Number of joint mechanisms to facilitate the connection of secondary/tertiary nodes to TEN-T infrastructure with 3 joint mechanisms mentioned above. A novelty element in a road modernization project is to support the hard investment with a series of soft actions, defined as the 3 joint mechanisms. Given the geographic positions of the 2 cities, the cross-border approach is the best solution. Dobrich is the residence for Dobrich County, while Medgidia is a multimodal node passed by the Danube-Black Sea Canal. Therefore, given their strategically importance, the 2 cities are mandatory to be included in a coherent and modernized cross-border road infrastructure network. The proposed roads improve the connectivity of the 2 cities through direct and indirect connection to TEN-T and, at the same time, the roads are oriented towards the border area: from Medgidia going South towards A2 highway (TEN-T)– E87(TEN-T) and Bg and from Dobrich going North towards Silistra (TEN-T on Danube) and Romania and East towards the Black Sea Coast– E87(TEN-T). The geographic position that places the 2 cities in the middle of their own region and at the intersection of important road and railway nodes, along the waterways (Medgidia) or in their vicinity (Dobrich towards Black Sea and Varna harbour), the economic and human potential they have, which gives them the status of growth poles with multiplier effect in the economy of the area, require the realization of this partnership. Once the 2 cities are connected, it can be seen that a broader geographical area is linked to TEN-T, allowing direct connection to a multimodal functional network, this being possible only within a strategic cross-border partnership. Indicative budget: 7.8 mil euro.

The reported achievements are as follows: - Finalizing the upgrading of 13,73 km of road infrastructure in order to connect secondary (Dobrich) and tertiary (Medgidia) nodes to TEN-T infrastructure and to reduce transportation time and optimizing logistics. 6,104 km of roads was modernized through this investment in Medgidia and 7,632 km of roads was modernized through this investment in Dobrich. - LB finalized the acquisition of the two mechanism - Route Guidance and Safety measures, which were delivered on 15.10.2021. - LB finalized the acquisition for the two-maintenance equipment: Backhoe with accessories and High-pressure machine for unclogging the small bridges, gutters, ditches, etc. The machines were delivered on 19.07.2021, respectively 30.06.2021. - B2 signed the acquisition contracts of the three mechanism - Route Guidance, Safety measures and Awareness raising activities in schools.

This is the result indicator to which all projects referring to road infrastructure modernization must relate. According to annex K – Programme Methodology for measuring result indicators, the modernized infrastructure consists of both the improved roadways and the technical tools in order to provide a globally enhanced service to the cross-border population. Within the project, this is transposed in the almost 11 km of modernized road infrastructure and the 3 joint mechanisms (traffic safety measures, awareness raising activities and route guidance) that will facilitate the connection of two nodes to the TEN-T infrastructure. All these measures will result in modernized infrastructure leading to TEN-T in both cities, which will serve, primarily, for the population of Medgidia and Dobrich (45.739, respectively 90.375 inhabitants). These two populations will be the “full-time” beneficiaries of the project. As mentioned before, both cities have an important number of transiting vehicles (tourists, economic operators etc) who will also benefit from the project, although, according to the methodology, they are not taking into account when quantifying the result indicator. When analysing the content of the project, it all comes down to the wellbeing of the population. The modernization of the almost 11 km of roadway will result in less time spent in traffic for the population, in safer and more comfortable traffic conditions. Complementary to the improvement of the roadway, the project will implement further actions, targeted also for the population. The traffic safety measures will have a direct positive impact on the life of the inhabitants of Medgidia and Dobrich, their end purpose being to save lives and prevent accidents. This purpose is shared by the awareness campaign, which will also have an educational approach. The necessity of this joint mechanism is underpinned by the realities of the two countries facing a significant road accident problem compared to other EU countries. EU uses 3 types of individual indicators, as follows: -deaths to 1 million inhabitants; -deaths to 10 billion passengers/km; - deaths to 1 million cars. In this order, Romania’s ranking is: -24 out of 28 – 94 deaths versus EU average of 60; --28 out of 28 – 259 deaths versus EU average of 61; -28 out of 28 – 466 deaths versus EU average of 126. From these data, it is easy to conclude that Romania has the worst death rate in road accidents in Europe. Although it is better for this chapter, Bulgaria is also ranked in the last part of the ranking for the three indicators. The overall rate of accidents involving pedestrians in Romania is the most unfavourable in Europe and is well above the EU average: 40,4 deaths per million inhabitants, compared to the European average of 12,3. Estimates of increasing motoring in the coming years show once again the need to improve the road infrastructure as soon as possible, to make connections with the main local, regional, national and international transport networks. In the same time, safety measures for drivers and pedestrians must be taken into account when developing the investment (utilization of roundabouts, speed cameras, safety barriers, improvement of poor road surfaces to avoid wet-weather crashes, retro-reflective marking materials, so on), as well as to provide in real time (by route guidance signs) a good visibility for the routes to be followed by the drivers. There has been a gradual increase in the level of motoring in Romania, with an average long-term growth trend of around 5% per year. In Romania the level of motorization is expected to increase strongly in the next years. This will have a direct impact on the probability that road transport will become a modal choice for more passenger journeys than at present. In 2014, number of cars per 1000 inhabitants in Romania was 248. Bulgaria has a 1.5-fold higher motorization than Romania, in terms of the number of inhabitants. In 2030 the forecasts show an average up to 350 cars owners per 1000 inhabitants. With increasing motoring, the dependence of the public transport population will be reduced. Hence the need for modernization and development of road infrastructure, especially in big cities and towns, growth poles, where the number of car owners will exceed the forecast national average. Missing opportunities to develop and modernize road infrastructure, to build a functional network connected to the TEN-T network will lead to traffic jams, increased travel time for people and goods, increased levels of CO2 pollution and noise pollution, creating not only discomfort to traffic participants, but having serious consequences in economic development, by slowing trade. The good shape of the roads is intended to be maintained by a multifunctional vehicle, purchased in the project. Regarding the bilingual route guidance, although the direct beneficiaries will be the people in transit, by offering the best option for their destination, it will result in less traffic jams, therefore serving also the population of the two cities. The core activities of the project will be orientated towards offering the population a modernized road infrastructure, in the sense of the Applicant’s Guide: improved roadways complemented by joint mechanisms that will provide a globally enhanced service to the cross-border population. In conclusion, all the investment measures supported by additional common mechanisms serve the entire population of the two partner localities, the economic agents that run businesses in the area or are in transit, and the tourists who head for the Black Sea coast of both countries. The project responds to Programme result indicator I6 and to Thematic objective 7: Promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures / IP 7b: Enhancing regional mobility by connecting secondary and tertiary nodes to TEN-T infrastructure, including multimodal nodes.