Well-developed transportation system in the Euroregion Ruse-Giurgiu for better connectivity with TEN-T network

This proposed project aims at better connecting the municipality of Giurgiu and the Municipality of Ruse with the TEN-T network, through actions that lead to the modernization of the road infrastructure in both mentioned CBC areas. The actions proposed in the project aim at achieving the main objective of the project by solving issues related to people connectivity in the border/ CBC region and by increasing the transport capacity of TEN-T sectors in the urban areas of Giurgiu and Ruse. The investment value is aproximatively: 7 939 442 euro. The main objective of the project, meaning modernizing the road infrastructure that is part of TEN-T network or that represents direct road connections to TEN-T, will be achieved by modernizing 6 662 m of infrastructure in Giurgiu Municipality, and 4 300 m in Ruse Municipality. The roads that will be modernized and upgraded in Giurgiu Municipality consist in: Bucuresti Bd (3 627 m, from the entrance in the Giurgiu Municipality to the roundabout at the municipal hospital), Prieteniei Rd (1080 m from the roudabout at Bucuresti Boulevard, Gloriei street and Prieteniei street to 1December street ); these 2 roads (Bucuresti Boulevard and Prieteniei Rd) are directly linked to TEN-T network corridor 9. Also, the work consist in modernizing the streets 1 Decembrie 1918 ( 1070 m from Prieteniei Rd to Mihai Viteazu Bd) and Mihai Viteazu Bd (900 m total, consisting in: from 1 Decembrie 1918 street to the roudabout at the Bucuresti Boulevard - 550m and from 1 Decembrie 1918 street to Steaua Dunarii roundabout - 350 m). These roads suffered multiple degradations, consisting in tansversal cracks, surface pits, pinching surfaces with low severity level, filings, road system fatigue, manifested by a network of interlocking longitudinal cracks, developed on large surfaces, framed in grade of severity raised, creases, polished surfaces, thus, it is essential to modernize them in order to insure the safety of it”s traffic participants. Beside modernizing and upgrading the roads, the works proposed in the project consist in having done a roundabout at the intersection of Bucuresti Boulevard, Miron Nicolescu Boulevard and Daciei Boulevard. The road that is going to be modernized in Ruse Municipality is Lipnick Boulevard in its entireness. It is part of the primary street network and is one of the citys main transport arteries. It starts at the roundabout with “Tsar Osvoboditel” Blvd and ends at a road junction with “Bulgaria” Blvd. It consists of two lanes with three strips with a dividing line with different width along its length. "Lipnik" Blvd provides a strategic connection between the central part of the city and the TEN-T network, respectively Danube Bridge, as well as the Eastern Industrial Zone. Because of its heavy traffic, the existing condition of the road pavement on “Lipnik” Blvd is unsatisfactory. The surface layer of asphalt is worn out and has lost the necessary qualities to ensure traffic safety. There are multiple cross, longitudinal and splinter cracks. Many tracks have been formed, there is a large number of smashed rainfall and inspection manholes. The pavement is covered with patches, many of which are cracked. On the basis of this, during the implementation of the project the road and sidewalks will be rehabilitated, new road marking and vertical signaling will be implemented. This will contribute to facilitating Ruses access to the TEN-T network, as well as to improving travel comfort and reducing the number of road accidents.The roads that are directly linked to TEN-T Network Corridor 9 are: Lipnick Boulevard in Ruse Municipaliy and Bucuresti Boulevard along with Prieteniei Rd in Giurgiu. The rest of the work being done by the project are to roads connecting to TEN-T network Corridor 9. The project will contribute to the objective of the program by modernizing a total of 10 962 m (10,962 km) of reconstructed and upgraded roads, meaning 27% of the total output indicator of the program to be achieved by the present call. The scope of the project is in accordance to the cooperation programmes under the European territorial cooperation goal, contributing thus to its thematic objective of promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures by enhancing regional mobility and connecting secondary and tertiary nodes to TEN-T infrastructure. In certain sections of the GR-RU CBC area, the bad conditions of the roads creates serious difficulties for winter maintenance of the road network which often leads to isolation of settlements. Municipality of Giurgiu and Municipality of Ruse have insufficient capacity leading to congestions and, as a consequence, to increased travelling time, vehicle operating costs, accidents and damage to the environment. The poor quality of secondary and tertiary road networks lead to higher risk of accidents, traffic jams, etc. Safety measures have to be introduced related to road transport. Moreover, the accessibility to TEN-T infrastructures for the main urban centers is far better than for the small/medium-sized cities. By implementing the proposed project and thus planning their sustainable accessibility through a cross-border integrated approach, the Danube twin-cities Giurgiu and Ruse will play a major role as TEN-T multimodal nodes.

The project was finalized on 07.12.2022. LB -Giurgiu Municipality finished the works execution according to the Technical design. 6.75 km of roads in Giurgiu town were modernized. Thus, on 22.06.2021, the reception was made at the end of the works for modernization of six road sections and for completion of the restoration works of the passage at the intersection of 1 Decembrie 1918 street with the Giurgiu Nord-Ruse railway, at km c.f. 66 + 533.00. The specific equipment for the traffic management system was installed both in Giurgiu and in Ruse. The existing system created in the project (MIS ETC 115, financed under the Cross-Border Cooperation Programme Romania-Bulgaria 2007-2013), was expanded by 4 Ultra High Sensitivity 4K cameras. Gathering data from the mounted cameras and processing traffic information from the traffic monitoring system is a critical aspect of modern traffic management and analysis. This process involves the collection of visual data from the cameras placed at strategic locations and the subsequent analysis of this data to extract valuable traffic-related information. The traffic cameras mounted through this project are strategically placed at key locations, such as intersections and main roads. These cameras have different types of lenses and capabilities, including pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) functionality for focusing on specific areas of interest. B2 - Ruse Municipality finalized the works execution related to modernization of "Lipnik" Blvd. from the roundabout at Boulevard "Tsar Osvoboditel" to the roundabout next to the building of the traffic police.Thus, a total length of 4.61 km of roads in Ruse were modernized. Protocol no. 16 of the findings of the commission was signed on 04.08.2022. As a result, a Permit for using the road was issued on August 5th 2022. All necessary protocols and documentation were submitted to the competent bodies and the construction was registered via Technical passport on August 8th 2022. The joint strategy for optimizing transport conditions in the cross-border area Romania-Bulgaria 2020 – 2027 was developed by the Municipality of Ruse in Bulgarian, Romanian and English languages. The strategy was posted on the following link: https://obshtinaruse.bg/savmestna-strategia-za-optimizane-na-transportnite-uslovia-v-transgranichnia-region-bulgaria-rumania-2020-2027

The main investment activities will assure the sustainable mobility of persons and goods and faster accessibility to the strategic objects in Giurgiu and Ruse Border points, increasing the cross border population served by modernized infrastructure leading to TEN-T. Contribution of the project to the result indicator is 228938 populations, 167585 citizens of Ruse area and 61353 citizens in Giurgiu area. This population will be served by the infrastructure modernization, even though through the result indicator the cross border population served by modernized infrastructure leading to TEN-T has been already achieved. Through implementing the project, partners will be able to attract the attention of more tourists interested in the region by offering them modernized and safer road infrastructure that will ensure better access to main touristic areas.