Historic day for Moldova: construction of first road bridge across Prut River of last six decades starts

Historic day for Moldova: the country today marks the start of construction for the first road bridge across the Prut River since the fall of communism, symbolically named the Flower Bridge of Ungheni. The event will be celebrated by the Flower Bridge Festival, meant to relive the historical emotions of 1990, when Romanians on both banks of Prut were able to freely embrace for the first time after decades of separation.

The official launch of the construction works for the first road bridge across the Prut in the last six decades marks an important step in developing the infrastructure between the two banks of the Prut River. Thus, the bridge will connect the city of Ungheni of Moldova with the village of Golaesti from the Iasi County, Romania.

The Flower Bridge will enter history forever

Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Vladimir Bolea emphasized that the beginning of the construction of the bridge across the Prut from Ungheni was a symbolic moment for the citizens of Moldova.

“We have five other functional bridges, but this bridge has an extraordinary emotional load, because it allows us all, as a whole nation, to relive the moment of seeing how from a flower bridge, from rose petals thrown into the waters of the Prut, the construction of a stone bridge begins, with a name that will enter history forever, Flower Bridge,” said Vladimir Bolea.

For his part, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, Irinel Ionel Scriosteanu invited as many Romanians as possible to Ungheni, to relive the emotions of the 1990 moment.

“The Flower Bridge Festival transforms the past into a bridge to the future. Thirty five years after the symbolic moment of 1990, when thousands of people met on the banks of the Prut. We are preparing for a new gesture of rapprochement: the launch of the construction of the road bridge across the Prut, which will unite Moldova with Romania, a member state of the European Union. This will be a bridge not only across a river, but also over time, strengthening the relation between our communities,” Irinel Ionel Scriosteanu said.

The Flower Bridge Festival began begin at 12:00 on the Independence Square from Ungheni, with a diverse programme: aerial acrobatics, paratrooper demonstrations, traditional craft workshops, gastronomic fairs and shows by beloved artists from both sides of the Prut River.

The bridge over the Prut from Ungheni is part of the Union Highway Project

According to the authorities, starting from the autumn of 2026, it will be possible to travel on this bridge, with provisional connections to nearby roads, till the completion of the Union Highway in 2029-2030.

The Flower Bridge across the Prut from Ungheni will be 261.20 meters long, with 130.60 meters on Romanian territory, featuring two lanes in each direction and sidewalks. It will be endowed with parking for large vehicles, cars and enclosed spaces for detailed inspection of cars and trucks.

The bridge across the Prut from Ungheni is part of the Union Highway A8 project. It will have a border crossing point, interconnecting the road infrastructures between both states. It is about: the Targu Mures – Iasi – Ungheni – state border highway (on Romanian territory) and the national road R1 Chisinau – Ungheni – Romanian border (on Moldovan territory).

The contract’s duration is 24 months. Of this period, six months is allocated for design and 18 months - for execution. The funding source is secured from European non-reimbursable funds, amounting to over 151.68 million Romanian lei, excluding value added tax (VAT), through the Connecting Europe Facility.

Four new bridges across the Prut River

In early 2025, the Romanian authorities announced that four new bridges would be built across the Prut River. Thus, by 2030, the number of road bridges will be doubled.

The first of the four new bridges is Stanca (Romania) - Costesti (Moldova). It will be located on the territory of Botosani County and Rascani District, south of the current customs point.

The second is the Bumbata (RO) - Leova (MD) bridge. It will be located in the east of Romania, in Vaslui County, and in the southwest of Moldova, in Leova District.

Another new bridge is Falciu (RO) - Leca (MD), which will be located on the territory of Vaslui County and Cantemir District. The fourth bridge is Raducaneni (RO) - Barboieni (MD), which will be located in the east of Romania, in Iasi County, and in the west of Moldova, in Nisporeni District.

“The connection roads will ensure connectivity both with the present road infrastructure and with other major infrastructure projects in Romania, which are in various stages of implementation, such as the Union Highway A8 Targu Neamt - Iasi - Ungheni, part of the TEN-T Core (Central) Corridor and the high-speed roads Tisita-Albita, Braila-Focsani, and also DX Braila-Galati,” Irinel Ionel Scriosteanu noted.

According to the Romanian official, the construction of these bridges across the Prut will remove blockages at border crossing points.

“Similarly, the transport capacity between the two countries will increase, and the connectivity of Moldova with the European TEN-T transport networks will be achieved. At the same time, the flow of freight transport with trucks that need to be operated in the Port of Constanta will be streamlined and optimized,” Irinel Ionel Scriosteanu also said.

At the same time, with the support of Romania, the first bridge across the Prut after the Revolution, Galati (RO) - Giurgiulesti (MD), has already been rehabilitated. Procedures have also been initiated for the rehabilitation of the bridges: Albita (RO) - Leuseni (MD), Sculeni (RO) - Sculeni (MD) and Oancea (RO) - Cahul (MD).