The Capital of Delayed Projects

The grand asphalt work blocks the Capital! This is what scared many of the people living in Bucharest. It started as a rumor in certain neighborhoods. The specialists say there is a lot of paper work before starting to build an overpass or to rehabilitate a boulevard. Until then, Bucharest remains a suffocated city.
The Basarab Overpass, together with other smaller overpasses, 22 underground parking places, the rehabilitation of more than 100 boulevards, the perforation of the Buzesti-Berzei-Uranus artery, and the reconfiguration of the area around the Izvor Park right next to the Parliament’s Palace, due to the building of the People’s Cathedral are just some of the projects that the officials have been talking about in the past years, ever since Traian Basescu was still the Mayor of Bucharest. Why didn’t they go through? The specialist blame the paperwork for that. Many auctions, feasibility, project and construction studies.

GREAT EXPECTANCE. Moreover, the papers for the main projects for the overpasses, parking places, perforations and asphalt work take a little more time. "May will be the "rush-month". The asphalt work will start on 52 streets. The auction for the Basarab overpass will take place on March 31st, and the work will start in May. It will start from the Orhideea area. The demands of the owners in Titulescu have been taken into consideration. We will rehabilitate the Grant Bridge as well. There will only be one way here", Gheorghe Udriste, director in the Bucharest City Hall, said. There is no meaning in talking about any detours since Bucharest is already blocked. However, the authorities say they will find a solution together with the Police. It is hard to believe, if we take into consideration the fact that they didn’t reach any solution by now. "I publicly admit that there will be two hard years for the traffic in Bucharest. We are looking for detours in order to create a fluency in traffic", Mayor Adriean Videanu stated recently. If we look at the fact that Bucharest doesn’t even have synchronized traffic lights, we cannot ask the authorities to make a strategy for these works.

TUDOR VLADIMIRESCU. The Street has rather been a whole than a building site

ASPHALT WORKS. 113 main boulevards will suffer modifications. All the neighborhoods will be affected, as well as the downtown.

UNDERGROUND PARKING PLACES. The 22 underground parking places will cost more than 328 million euros. The parking at the North Train Station and the one at the Atheneum will be technically different; they will have three levels and multiple underground entries.

UNWORTHY CONTRACTS. The local authorities have no flair or interest in choosing good companies for the main works. If they chose companies like Poni-Con, the one that is taking care of the modernization of the Marasesti Underpass, for the present works, failure is guaranteed. The local authorities, led by Mayor Adriean Videanu (photo), wanted to cancel the contract with the mentioned company but they couldn’t. The contract can be canceled on the 30th of June only, the term for the finish of the works. The Marasesti Underpass won’t be finished in time for sure. The Tudor Vladimirescu Street, work contracted to Strabag, hasn’t been rehabilitated in time either.