The A3 motorway () is a partially built motorway in Romania, planned to connect Bucharest with the Transylvania region and the north-western part of the country. It will be 596 km long and will run along the route: PloieÃÂti, BraÃÂov, FÃÂgÃÂraÃÂ, SighiÃÂoara, Târgu MureÃÂ, Cluj-Napoca, ZalÃÂu and Oradea, connecting with Hungary's M4 motorway near BorÃÂ.
As of July 2025, there are roughly in service: the Bucharest â PloieÃÂti motorway (62.5 km), the RâÃÂnov â Cristian segment (6.3 km), the Târgu Mureàâ NÃÂdÃÂÃÂelu segment (117 km) and the Biharia â Boràsegment (5.4 km).
In January 2015, the motorway section between Târgu Mureàâ Câmpia Turzii was awarded for construction. It was divided into two larger segments, with a total of five lots, which sum up 51.8 km. By December 2021, all segments have been opened to traffic, with the exception of CheÃÂani â Câmpia Turzii (15.7 km), of which contract was terminated in March that year.
Additional works on the NÃÂdÃÂÃÂelu â Boràsection (approx. 157 km, in total) were auctioned between 2018 and 2019, with contracts awarded for the Biharia â Boràsegment (5.4 km, near the border with Hungary) in December 2018, the Chiribiàâ Biharia segment (28.6 km) in June 2020, and the Zimbor â Poarta SÃÂlajului segment (12.2 km) on the same month. Several other segments are still pending to be awarded.
Furthermore, on the Comarnic â BraÃÂov section (58.0 km), the 5.2 km segment between Comarnic South â Comarnic North has been re-tendered in August 2020.
This motorway section (also called the "Snow Motorway") will cross the Carpathian Mountains along the Prahova Valley (the Comarnic â BraÃÂov segment is considered the most difficult section to be built). It will also provide access to the future Terminal 2 of the Henri CoandàAirport and to the future Bucharest â ChiÃÂinÃÂu motorway, via the PloieÃÂti South-East (Dumbrava) interchange.
It was split into three larger sections: the Bucharest â PloieÃÂti section (62 km), the PloieÃÂti â Comarnic section (48.6 km) and the Comarnic â BraÃÂov section (58 km).
Work on the Bucharest â PloieÃÂti section started on 15 March 2007 and was due to be completed by October 2012.
The first segment, between Bucharest â Moara VlÃÂsiei (19.5 km), was built as a six-lane set of carriageways to accommodate commuting and holiday surplus traffic. It was built by the Italian joint venture between Impresa Pizzarotti and Tirrena Scavi, while the second segment, between Moara VlÃÂsiei â PloieÃÂti (43.0 km), was built by the Romanian companies Spedition UMB, Pa&Co InternaÃÂional and EuroConstruct Trading '98. Total construction cost of this section was estimated at 450 million euro.
The section between Bucharest Ring Road â PloieÃÂti (55.5 km) was opened on 19 July 2012, while the rest of the section towards downtown Bucharest remained to be completed.
The Bucharest â Bucharest Ring Road segment (6.5 km) is part of the Bucharest â Moara VlÃÂsiei subsection and was built under separately awarded contracts, as the one with Impresa Pizzarotti was terminated. It starts with a roundabout at the junction between the Fabrica de Glucozàand the Petricani Street (near ), crosses over the Balta Saulei Lake, intersects the GherghiÃÂei Street with a second roundabout (near ), then continues northbound, crossing over the CFR Line 800, the Popasului Street (in Voluntari, where it has a diamond interchange near ) and the Bucharest Ring Road, as well as the railroad again.
On the Popasului Street (Voluntari) â Bucharest Ring Road segment (4 km) work started in April 2012, whereas on the Petricani Street (Bucharest) â Popasului Street (Voluntari) segment (2.5 km) work was constantly delayed, partly because of remaining unfinished expropriations, until the contract was finally terminated in February 2015.
In December 2015, the construction work of the first 3.3 km of the motorway, the Bucharest Ring Road junction and the still under construction Moara VlÃÂsiei exit, was awarded to the joint-venture between Aktor and EuroConstruct Trading '98, for a cost of 129.2 million lei. They were planned to be completed by 2018, but the progress remained slow as of June that year. The entire segment from the Petricani Street to the Bucharest Ring Road was opened on 14 December 2018. The media has highlighted the facts that the motorway ends with a stoplight and it has a roundabout on its route, something unique in Romania, and widely regarded this segment as an "urban motorway".
The PloieÃÂti â Comarnic section has been in pre-feasibility phase and its profitability is being considered. It is complemented by a relatively settlement-free section of the parallel national road DN1.
Work on the Comarnic â BraÃÂov section, the most difficult segment of the motorway, was due to begin in 2010 and take around four years to complete, but the FrenchâÂÂGreek consortium VinciâÂÂAktor denounced the contract and construction was canceled. Total construction cost of this section was estimated at 1.2 billion euro.
The segment was re-tendered as a concession contract in February 2013. It has been awarded in December 2013 to the joint venture between Vinci, Strabag and Aktor, for a period of 29 years, with an estimated construction cost of 1.8 billion euro. This section of the motorway would have three twin tunnels, with a total length of 19.4 km, at Sinaia, BuÃÂteni and Predeal, and four interchanges, at Comarnic, BuÃÂteni, Predeal and RâÃÂnov. The route would follow the river valley until Posada, where it would cross on the opposite side of the river and would run along the mountain range until Sinaia, from where it would then run nearly straight until Azuga, crossing through two twin tunnels that would bypass Sinaia and BuÃÂteni, before crossing again to the eastern side of the river. According to media reports, work was expected to begin in April 2014, but was still pending, due to financial arrangements and the environmental certificate. According to the same reports, they had to be finalized in 2017.
As of June 2015, the concession had been canceled.
As of October 2015, section 1 (4.0 km) and section 5 (6.3 km, plus a connecting road) at the ends of the Comarnic â BraÃÂov section were separately tendered. For section 1, a bid by Spedition UMB and Tehnostrade remained the only one, while the other tender was leaning towards a consortium led by the Spanish construction company Copisa. However, as of October 2017, after the termination of challenge procedures, only the RâÃÂnov â Cristian segment was awarded for construction, to the Cypriot company Alpenside. The contract, which includes a 3.7 km connecting road, is worth 25.8 million euro and should take 6 months for planning and 18 months for execution. The bid for the Comarnic Sud â Comarnic Nord section had been canceled by February 2017, as the only bid was not in accordance with the terms.
In October 2018, the motorway PloieÃÂti â Comarnic â BraÃÂov (around 100 km) was once again tendered, as a publicâÂÂprivate partnership, that would take 24 years and have an estimated cost of 1.36 billion euro. The Romanian state would contribute with 25%, while the private partner would contribute with 75%. As of December 2018, the tender's deadline, there were five companies or joint-venture interested. The project received criticism from the NGO called AsociaÃÂia Pro Infrastructuràfor lacking details of major importance. In October 2019, it was announced that the joint venture selected for the construction work was China Communications Construction Company (China) â Makyol Insaat Sanayi Turizm (Turkey). The project was, once more, cancelled in the first quarter of 2020, by the newly elected government, in favor of a new future tender, based on European funds.
In August 2020, the segment between Comarnic South and Comarnic North (5.2 km, according to the project) was tendered again, for 68.6 million euro, with a contract length of 36 months, of which 12 months for the project and 24 months for the construction.
In December 2020, the RâÃÂnov - Cristian segment was opened.
This motorway segment, known as the Transylvania Motorway (), was split into three parts, with several subsections: the BraÃÂov (Cristian) â Târgu Mureà(Ogra) segment (160.1 km), the Târgu Mureà(Ogra) â Cluj-Napoca West (GilÃÂu) segment (89.7 km) and the Cluj-Napoca West (GilÃÂu) â Oradea West (BorÃÂ) segment (165.5 km).
The segments in service of this section of the motorway are the Câmpia Turzii â NÃÂdÃÂà Âelu segment (61.2 km), under several openings between December 2009 and September 2018, the Ungheni â CheÃÂani segment (31.6 km), under several openings between December 2018 and September 2020, and the Biharia â Boràsegment (5.4 km). The Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Boràsegment (64.5 km) has been under construction since 2004, but the contract was terminated in May 2013, with the construction progress around 50%. Additional work is being performed on the CheÃÂani â Câmpia Turzii segment (15.7 km).
The entire section was originally scheduled to be built by the American company Bechtel Corporation together with its regional partner Enka of Turkey. The contract was awarded in 2004 to the Bechtel Corporation by the Social Democrat Prime-Minister Adrian NÃÂstase without an open bidding process, invoking "national security" as an excuse. The estimated construction cost was 2.8 billion ⬠in 2003 and it rose to 4.7 billion ⬠in a 2007 estimate. Although officially the deadline was set for 2013, the final cost and finalization date remained unknown.
As per the Romanian ministry of transportation, Anca Boagiu, the original contract was highly disadvantageous to the Romanian side. Following the contract renegotiation that occurred in JuneâÂÂJuly 2011, Bechtel agreed to lower the building cost per kilometer by 50% down to 6.9 million euro. Also it was decided that the American company will build only two segments (Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Boràand Câmpia Turzii â Cluj-Napoca West/GilÃÂu), leaving all the other segments of the motorway open for tendering.
The official groundbreaking ceremony for the Transylvania Motorway was held near the village of VÃÂliÃÂoara on 16 June 2004. On 1 December 2009, the Turda â Cluj-Napoca West (GilÃÂu) segment (42 km) was opened for traffic, followed on 13 November 2010, by the Câmpia Turzii â Turda segment (10 km). As of January 2012, work was being performed only on the Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Oradea West (BorÃÂ) segment, with 17 km planned to be opened on 15 November 2012 and other 18 km on 30 August 2013. However, not much progress was visible on this segment by August 2012, and the bridge across the SomeÃÂul Mic river, part of the Câmpia Turzii â Cluj-Napoca West (GilÃÂu) segment, was also yet to be built. In May 2013, the contract with the Bechtel Corporation was terminated through mutual agreement. The construction status of the Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Boràsegment is reportedly at 50%.
An additional 8.7 km segment, between Cluj-Napoca West (GilÃÂu) and NÃÂdÃÂÃÂelu, was tendered in August 2012, and awarded to the joint venture between Spedition UMB and Tehnostrade in April 2013. Work on this segment was scheduled to begin as late as six months after signing the contract and take one year and a half to complete. The segment would act as a bypass for Cluj-Napoca, the second most populous city in the country, on the route towards ZalÃÂu and Baia Mare. The contract was reportedly terminated in June 2013, before any construction work started, but work began in the summer of 2014, with an expected opening date in April 2016. As of April 2017, the segment was largely completed, but unusable due to the fact that the bridge across the SomeÃÂul Mic river connecting with the Câmpia Turzii â Cluj-Napoca West (GilÃÂu) segment was not completed. A contract for the remaining work to this bridge was signed in September 2017, and was expected to be completed by August 2018. The work was finally completed in September 2018. The contractor was the Italian company Tirrena Scavi.
The section from Târgu MureÃÂ, via Ogra, to Câmpia Turzii, with a length of 51.8 km, was tendered in 2014, and for four out of five lots, contracts have been signed at the end of February and early March 2015. Construction was set to take between 12 and 16 months, depending on the lot.
The Târgu Mureàâ Ogra lot 1 (between Târgu Mureàâ Ungheni, 4.5 km of motorway and 4.7 km of connecting road) was awarded to the joint-venture Lemacons - Vega 93 - Arcada Company, for a cost of 179.8 million lei (excluding VAT). The Târgu Mureàâ Ogra lot 2 (between Ungheni â Ogra, 10.1 km) was awarded to the joint-venture between Strabag and Straco Grup, for a cost of 251.3 million lei (excluding VAT). The Ogra â Câmpia Turzii lot 1 (between Ogra â Iernut, 3.6 km) was awarded to the joint-venture Geiger Transilvania - Wilhelm Geiger GmbH & Co. KG, for a cost of 55.8 million lei (excluding VAT). The Ogra â Câmpia Turzii lot 2 (between Iernut â CheÃÂani, 17.9 km) was awarded to the joint-venture between Astaldi and Max Bögl, for a cost of 379.7 million lei (excluding VAT). The Ogra â Câmpia Turzii lot 3 (between CheÃÂani â Câmpia Turzii, 15.7 km) was awarded to the joint venture Straco Grup - Specialist Consulting - Total Road, for a cost of 279.7 million lei (excluding VAT).
The contract for the Târgu Mureàâ Ungheni segment (lot 1) was terminated in April 2016, due to delays in pre-construction arrangements by the CNADNR, and was awarded again in November 2017, to the Austrian company Strabag. However, the bid was challenged in court and it was not signed (with the Austrian contractor) until the end of May 2020. The contract is worth 39 million euro (not including VAT) and is supposed to take 18 months to complete. This segment finally opened on 6 December 2021.
On December 12, 2018, the Târgu Mureàâ Ogra lot 2 and the Ogra â Câmpia Turzii lot 1 opened to traffic for a continuous motorway segment of 13.7 km between Ungheni and Iernut, while the Ogra â Câmpia Turzii lot 2 (17.9 km, between Iernut â CheÃÂani) opened on 18 September 2020. On the other hand, the contract for the Ogra â Câmpia Turzii lot 3 was terminated in March 2021, due to the slow construction progress and insolvent status of the constructor.
The whole section was finished on December 15, 2023, when the final lot between CheÃÂani and Câmpia Turzii was finished. Traffic was opened the following week, on December 21, and because of this, residents of the Mureàcounty can now travel from Târgu Mureàby changing to the A10 motorway in Turda and then the A1 motorway in Sebeà(with a small gap between Holdea and Margina) all the way to the Hungarian border in NÃÂdlac, and from there towards most of Europe only on highway, being a huge achievement for the people in the region.
The section is divided into three subsections: Cluj-Napoca West (GilÃÂu) â MihÃÂieÃÂti, MihÃÂieÃÂti â Suplacu de BarcÃÂu and Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â BorÃÂ.
The remaining work on the Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Boràsubsection (64.5 km) was awarded for construction in April 2015 (to the joint-venture of Corsán and Corviam Construcción), but no progress had been recorded as of January 2016. In November 2016, the contract was reportedly close to being terminated.
In August 2018, the same subsection were auctioned for the third time, with some of the winners of the bids still pending to be awarded. The subsection is divided into three lots: lot 1, Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Chiribià(26.3 km); lot 2, Chiribiàâ Biharia (28.6 km), and lot 3, Biharia â Borà(5.4 km). In October 2018, the lot 2 was awarded to the Romanian company Trameco, part of the Selina Group, but this was challenged and only as of June 2020, the contract has been signed with that specific company. It should take 6 months for projection and 18 months for construction, being valued at 67.5 million euro. In December 2018, it was announced that the contract for the lot 3 was signed with a joint-venture led by the same company, Trameco. It is worth 28.5 million euro and has the deadline in 19 months. The same month, the lot 1 was awarded to the same company, but the bid was challenged and the result was still expected.
In March 2019, additional segments were tendered: NÃÂdÃÂÃÂelu â MihÃÂieÃÂti â Zimbor (30.1 km), Zimbor â Poarta SÃÂlajului (12.2 km) and NuÃÂfalÃÂu â Suplacu de BarcÃÂu (13.6 km).
In June 2019, two more contracts were awarded: Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Chiribià(26.35 km) and Chiribiàâ Biharia (28.55 km). However, the tender for the Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Chiribiàsegment, awarded to the Constructii â Hidroelektra Mehanizacija joint venture, was canceled in October 2019, after the Croatian partner filed for insolvency, whereas the one for the Chiribià  â Biharia segment has been contested again and was still under trial procedures until June 2020, when it was signed with a joint-venture led by Trameco. The value of the contract 67.5 million euro, with 6 months allowed for the projection and 18 months for the construction.
In June 2020, the contract for the Zimbor â Poarta SÃÂlajului segment (12.2 km) was signed with the Romanian company Spedition UMB, for about 140 million euro and a term of 12 months for projection and 24 months for construction. In September 2020, this was followed by the signing of the contract for the NuÃÂfalÃÂu â Suplacu de BarcÃÂu segment (13.6 km) with the Turkish company Nurol (costing 384 million lei (excluding VAT), with a term of 6 months for projection and another 18 for construction), later being followed by the signing of the contract for the NÃÂdÃÂÃÂelu â MihÃÂieÃÂti â Zimbor segment (30.1 km) with a joint-venture led by Spedition UMB. The value of this contract is 1.4 billion lei (excluding VAT), having the same terms for projection & construction as that of the Zimbor â Poarta SÃÂlajului segment.
By the end of 2020, the last remaining segments of this section have been tendered: Poarta SÃÂlajului â ZalÃÂu â NuÃÂfalÃÂu (41 km) and Suplacu de BarcÃÂu â Chiribià(26.35 km).
In January 2021, construction began on the NÃÂdÃÂà Âelu - MihÃÂieà Âti segment and the Chiribià  - Biharia section. The contract for the Chiribià Â-Biharia section was canceled due was terminated in May 2022 because the construction slow progress and problems with claims.
On 19 February 2021, the submission of applications for the award procedure of Poarta SÃÂlajului â ZalÃÂu â NuÃÂfalÃÂu section took place, 12 companies applied, from which CNAIR will only choose 6 for the actual tender
As of July 2020, the following progress was recorded:
The following segments also have contracts signed and are in early design and construction states: