State Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development Nicolae Myndra emphasized that these funds are intended for the implementation of all key elements of the National Mobility Strategy: maintenance, rehabilitation and construction of new roads.
“It is clear that 20 billion euros for road infrastructure is a cosmic sum, many times exceeding the possibilities of the state budget. We realize that this development should take place over many years. At the same time, it is obvious that investments in maintenance are the best mechanism to reduce this amount,” Myndra told Radio Moldova.
He said, referring to the data of the State Road Administration, that about 6 billion lei is needed for a full-fledged annual operation.
“And this is only for maintenance. Last year, 2.5 billion lei was allocated, of which more than 1 billion lei was spent on maintenance. But 1 is not 6. Obviously, the maintenance was underfunded – this is a practice that, unfortunately, still exists,” the state secretary emphasized.
Why road infrastructure has suffered
Myndra also explained why roads have been badly affected this winter, noting that a whole “conglomerate of reasons” influences this:
“It was a difficult winter for infrastructure: a lot of precipitation and constant temperature fluctuations around zero. During such periods, the road infrastructure is constantly freezing and thawing, which creates a serious load. …Traditional asphalt layers are designed to be stable only up to minus 8-10 degrees. The materials used are classic,” Myndra stated.
The Secretary of State believes that this winter was a serious “stress test” for the road network, which showed that most of the infrastructure, which has not been rehabilitated over the past 15 years, is outdated and does not meet modern requirements.
At the same time, he said that the Hincesti – Leuseni road is currently under construction, using modern technologies – modified bitumen, whose chemical and physical properties allow the asphalt to withstand up to -20°C in winter and more than +40°C in summer.
As Logos Press previously reported, on Wednesday, February 25, the government will consider the draft distribution of the state resources of the Road Fund in the amount of 1.82 billion lei.
