Bucharest Ring Motorway

The Bucharest Ring Motorway (or the Bucharest Belt Motorway, Autostrada Centura București), termed A0, is a motorway ring in construction around the city of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It is intended to be the outer ring to the existing Bucharest Ring Road.

It is split into two sections: the South Ring Motorway and the North Ring Motorway. It will have a total distance of 100.87 km and will be a motorway connection between the existing A1, A2 and A3 motorways.

As of April 2024, 30.5 km are in operation, with construction contracts being underway for the remaining segments.

South section
The South Ring Motorway (51.3 km) was tendered as a concession contract in December 2012, that was supposed to be awarded in November 2013. Yet, a new tender was announced in July 2017, that shall be completed between the end of 2017 and the first half of 2018, with an estimated cost of 580 million euros. Construction works should take three years and a half to complete. It will run through the south of Bucharest, along the route of the Pan-European Corridor IV.

A tender for a segment of 17.5 km (15.5 km of the South section and 2.5 km of the North section), called lot 3, between the A1 motorway and the DN6 road was launched in July 2017 and awarded in April 2018, to the joint-venture Spedition UMB–Tehnostrade–Artera Proiect, with one year allowed for the design of the motorway and two and a half years for the construction works. However, the bid was challenged and awarded to a new constructor, the Greek company Aktor, in October 2018.

The rest of the South section was tendered on the same date as well, with both of the two bids awarded to the Turkish company Alsim Alarko: the contract for the segment of 16.3 km between the DN6 road and the CFR Line 902 (near Jilava), called lot 2, was signed in March 2019 and is due to be finished in 2022, while the bid for the segment of 16.9 km between the CFR Line 902 and the A2 motorway, called lot 1, was under challenge procedures until July 2019, with the contract being signed one month later.

On 30 December 2023, the first section of the South Ring opened between DN5 and DN6. On 15 April 2024, the second section of the South Ring opened between DN4 and DN5.

North section
Initially, in June 2019, 45 km of the Northern half were tendered for auction into three segments, with a fourth lot included later, up to a total of 49.57 km. On 20 September 2023, the contract for the design and execution of the last segment was signed with the Impresa Pizzarotti – Retter Projectmanagement association. On 29 November 2023, the first section opened on the A0, between the A3 motorway and DN1.

Openings timeline

 * The segment of the South Ring between DN5 and DN4 opened in April 2024.
 * The segment of the South Ring between DN6 and DN5 opened in December 2023, and the rest of the segments are under construction
 * The segment of the North Ring between DN1 and A3 motorway opened in November 2023, and the remaining three segments are under construction.