West tunnel highway ready in 2026? The work is half done: “Until one hundred percent is more”

Almost half of the work on the “Highway with tunnels” in western Romania has been completed, but some sections have a high degree of difficulty, and compliance with the 2026 completion deadline is viewed with doubt.

Work on the tunnels on the Lugoj – Deva highway. Photo DRDP Timișoara

Until September 2026, the builders of the 9.5 kilometers of the “highway with tunnels” in western Romania have a deadline to complete the segment between Holdea and Margina, to which a four-kilometer section is added (Section D, in the Margina area).

The works on the section shared between Hunedoara and Timiș counties started at the beginning of 2024, and on the difficult section, of 4.5 kilometers, in the fall of 2024. This section includes two tunnels, whose four galleries total 4.6 kilometers, and three passages, one of which exceeds one kilometer.

The highway with tunnels, half done

At the end of 2025, progress on the Margina – Holdea construction site, the only unfinished segment of the A1 Lugoj – Deva highway, reached 50 percent, according to the Timișoara Regional Directorate of Roads and Bridges.

“The activity is supported in all the galleries of the two tunnels on the route. In the first tunnel (T1), where both galleries were pierced this year, work is being done on the application of waterproofing and the installation of reinforcement on the vault for gallery 2, respectively, preparatory work is being carried out for the application of waterproofing and the installation of the working scaffolding for gallery 1. Also in gallery 1, reinforcement, formwork, concreting of the leveler and piers are being carried out. In the second tunnel, the excavation continues in the work fronts, the anchors are being driven in the protective umbrella and in the side walls, and in the cut & cover sector, the soil is being evacuated from the underground; including the concreting works of the screed and the quays have been started. informed DRDP Timișoara.

Several hundred workers are mobilized on the route of the future highway and will continue the work during the holidays. In some periods, more than 750 people were mobilized, on the 11 work fronts of the section with tunnels. According to the builders, work will be carried out on the construction site including on December 31, as well as on January 2 and 3, and the activity will resume with a normal schedule starting on January 8, 2026.

Image 1/12:
The construction site of the Lugoj Deva motorway with tunnels Photo DRDP Timișoara (27) jpg

The two galleries of the Small Tunnel (T1), with a length of 368 meters on one track and 415 meters on the other, were pierced during the year 2025, and the builders are currently working on its structural part. At the Great Tunnel (T2), with galleries measuring 1,825 meters on one track and 1,985 meters on the other, excavation continues underground, at both entrance galleries, with several work fronts being opened on its segments.

Tunnel construction, years of controversy

The construction of the highway in western Romania is financed with European funds through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and will have to be completed by the fall of next year. In the last decade, the project has aroused the interest of many Romanians. Many of them were directly affected by the delays and blockages on this segment, the only unfinished one of the Lugoj – Deva Highway, with a total length of 100 kilometers, which crosses western Romania.

The tunnels on the Margina – Holdea section have been designed to avoid deep sinkholes, instability risks and negative environmental impacts, according to the environmental agreement.

The solution caused controversy, because it was not foreseen in the initial project, being requested later, after 2010, by environmental organizations, which supported the need to create a “green corridor” for the migration of wild animals, in the area of ​​the Mureș Valley, which ensures the ecological connectivity between the Poiana Ruscă Mountains and the Apuseni Mountains.

Those who have challenged the usefulness of the sewers have called them “bear tunnels,” claiming that they are built in an area where there would be no bears. In addition, some Romanians claim that the construction of the tunnels led anyway to the deforestation of important areas of forest in the area and above them.

Image 1/12:
Lugoj Deva Motorway construction site with tunnels Photo DRDP Timișoara (18) jpg

After numerous delays, the completion date of the future highway, expected in the fall of 2026, is viewed with doubt by many Romanians.

“From 50 percent to 100 percent is more. It seems incredible, but we are really stumbling over a stump, says Baiazid.” observes one of them, in a comment on the latest images from the construction site, published by DRDP Timișoara.

Other observers claim that, in the most optimistic case, the highway section could be inaugurated in 2027.

“I can make maximum efforts, but the problem remains with the drilling, which goes at its own pace, no matter how many workers are mobilized there”, states another.

Once completed, the Margina – Holdea segment of the A1 Lugoj – Deva Highway will make it possible to travel exclusively on the highway from the western border to the center of the country, on the 360 ​​kilometer route of the A1 Nădlac – Arad – Timișoara – Lugoj – Deva – Sebeș – Sibiu – Boita.