Roads in Moldova

Currently, there are three defined types of public roads in the Republic of Moldova:[1]

  • National road (Romanian: Drum național – pl. Drumuri naționale)
  • Local road (Romanian: Drum local – pl. Drumuri locale)
  • Street (Romanian: Stradă – pl. Străzi)

In total, Moldova has a total length of 10,680 kilometres (6,636 mi) of road. From those, 3,668 km (2,279 mi) are national roads and 7,012 km (4,357 mi) are local roads.[2] The general maximum speed limit on public roads is 90 km/h (55 mph), while a speed limit of 50 km/h (30 mph) is imposed inside localities.

Its current road network is inherited from the former Soviet Union (the Moldavian SSR).

Vignette

Moldova is the only country which requires use of vignettes (roviniete) on all public roads, inside and outside localities, as a form of road tolling for all non-Moldovan vehicles. Vignettes are available for purchase at border crossing points, with 2023 prices from €4 for a week up to €180 for a year. Drivers caught without a valid vignette are charged with cash fines starting from MDL 5,000 (€231).[3]

Motorways
Further information: Ungheni–Odesa motorway

As of 2021, there are no segments of motorway (Romanian: Autostradă) that are officially open. The first motorway-class road in Moldova is planned to be the Chișinău - Cimișlia motorway, which is to be assigned "M3". Works on what could be the first motorway began in the 80s (under Soviet rule), but began to slow down after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, stopping in 1996 with the Chișinău - Porumbrei segment (32 km or 20 mi) open only on one carriageway. Works on what could eventually become the first motorway in Moldova resumed in 2019.[4]

Thus, it can be said that Moldova has de facto 32 km (20 mi) of motorway in service, but de jure the Chișinău - Porumbrei segment does not count as a motorway, with plans calling for the Chișinău - Cimișlia road to receive motorway status only after works are finished.[4]

In 2018, a second motorway route in Moldova (Ungheni - Chișinău - border with Ukraine toward Odesa) was proposed as a continuation of Romania's A8 motorway to the east (est. 100 km or 62 mi long), and thus of the future motorway corridor Iași–Cluj-Napoca–Budapest–Vienna–Munich.[5] In 2021, it had been proposed by the IDEP that the motorway segment between Chișinău and the Romanian border become a "national priority" for Moldova.[6]

National roads

National roads in Moldova are divided into two categories: magistral roads (Romanian: Drumuri magistrale) and republican roads (Romanian: Drumuri republicane).[1] Magistral roads mainly serve as connections to road networks of neighboring countries, those of Romania and Ukraine. Republican roads serve as connections between places in Moldova, but may also reach the border.[1] All magistral roads start or pass through the capital city of Chișinău, with the exception of the M4.[7]

M1 highway
Main article: M1 highway (Moldova)

The M1 crosses Moldova on the west - east reference, linking the border with Ukraine at Dubău to the Romanian border at Leușeni, Hîncești towards Bucharest and further Romanian cities, also passing through Chișinău and Dubăsari.

With a total length of 154 km (96 mi), modern-day M1 comprises 97 km (60 mi) between the Romanian border and Chișinău, to which are added 60 km (37 mi) of the former M21 highway towards the Ukrainian border, M21 having been merged into the M1.[7]

M2 highway
Main article: M2 highway (Moldova)

The M2 is one of the magistral roads that link Chișinău to the border with Ukraine. The road, which is 185 km (115 mi) long, passes through Orhei and Soroca before reaching the border at Cosăuți. There's currently no bridge over the Dniester river in the area, with this gap covered by a ferry. Work on building a 1,400m dual carriageway bridge is scheduled for 2025.[8]

M3 highway
Main article: M3 highway (Moldova)

The M3 serves as a connection between Chișinău and the Moldova–Romania border; this time towards the proposed Lower Danube metropolitan area (which includes the Romanian cities of Galați and Brăila) via the autonomous territory of Gagauzia. The main cities crossed by the road include Cimișlia, Comrat and Vulcănești, ending near the tripoint of Moldova and its two surrounding countries at Giurgiulești. It is 217 km (135 mi) long.

Future plans call for the Chișinău - Cimișlia section to become a motorway-class road, the first motorway in Moldova.[4]

M4 highway
Main article: M4 highway (Moldova)

The M4 is the only road that doesn't start or pass through Chișinău and of which all segments are in the control of the Transnistrian government. The road forms the backbone of the Transnistrian road network as it links all the main cities located in the territory: Tiraspol, Dubăsari and Rîbnița, with its northern terminus at the border with Ukraine. It is 178 km (111 mi) long.

M5 highway
Main article: M5 highway (Moldova)

The M5 (M14 CIS) is the longest Moldovan road, at 370 km (230 mi), crossing Moldova on the north - south reference. It passes through the three most populous Moldovan cities (Chișinău, Bălți and Tiraspol), as well as Edineț.[7]

The designation "M14" dates back to the era of the Soviet Union. The Soviet M14 highway served as a link between the present-day border with Poland at Brest (Byelorussian SSR) and the city of Odesa (Ukrainian SSR) on the Black Sea coast.[9] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the designation of the former M14 was retained on the Moldovan section, while the sections in Ukraine and Belarus have gotten new designations. It was later renamed to M5.

List
List of magistral roads[7]
Number Route Length
km mi
M 1 Ukraine → Dubăsari – Chișinău – Leușeni → Romania 15496
M 2 Chișinău – Orhei – Soroca → Ukraine 15596
M 2.1 M2 – Cosăuți 3.52.2
M 3 Chișinău – Cimișlia – Comrat – Vulcănești → Romania 217135
M 3.1 M3 – Comrat East 4.32.7
M 4 Tiraspol – Dubăsari – Rîbnița – Hristovaia → Ukraine 178111
M 5 Ukraine → Edineț – Bălți – Chișinău – Tiraspol → Ukraine 370230
Total 1,082 672
List of republican roads[7]
Number Route Length
km mi
R 1 Chișinău – Strășeni – Călărași – Ungheni → Romania 11873
R 2 Chișinău – Tighina 6037
R 3 Chișinău – Hîncești – Cimișlia → Ukraine 9861
R 4 Chișinău – Criuleni – Dubăsari 3220
R 5 Chișinău – Dorotcaia 3220
R 6 Ialoveni – Dumbrava 63.7
R 7 Romania → Rîșcani – Drochia – Soroca 10163
R 8 Edineț – Corbu – Otaci → Ukraine 5534
R 9 Otaci – Soroca 4025
R 10 Ruseni – Ocnița 1912
R 11 Briceni – Ocnița 3522
R 12 Bălți Airport – Drochia – Corbu 6339
R 13 Bălți – Florești – Rîbnița 5232
R 14 Bălți – Sîngerei – Sărătenii Vechi 6641
R 15 Bălți – Glodeni 3019
R 16 Bălți – Fălești – Sculeni → Romania 4930
R 17 Fălești – Pîrlița 3220
R 18 Sîngerei – Florești 4528
R 19 Pohoarna – Sănătăuca 3119
R 20 Călărași – Orhei – Rîbnița 11471
R 21 Răciula – Hîrjauca 116.8
R 22 Meleșeni – Telenești – Ratuș 2918
R 23 Ivancea – Criuleni 3421
R 24 Strășeni – Căpriana 116.8
R 25 Bucovăț – Nisporeni – Bărboieni 4629
R 26 Cimișlia – Căușeni – Bender – Tiraspol 10364
R 27 Tiraspol – Corotna – Pervomaisc 4930
R 28 Hlinaia – Răscăieții Noi 1811
R 29 Răzeni – Bender 5836
R 30 Chetrosu – Căușeni – Ștefan Vodă → Ukraine 9559
R 31 Căușeni → Ukraine 1811
R 32 Chetrosu – Sălcuța 5132
R 33 Hîncești – Lăpușna – Leușeni 3622
R 34 Hîncești – Cantemir – Cahul – Slobozia Mare 168104
R 35 Comrat – Basarabeasca 2616
R 36 Taraclia – Basarabeasca 6138
R 37 Ceadîr-Lunga – Comrat – Cantemir 8150
R 38 Taraclia – Cahul – Vulcănești 7245
R 40 Biruința – Chetrosu 3119
R 41 Rîșcani – Glodeni 1912
R 42 Ungheni – Bărboieni 3321
R 44 Călărași – Ciuciuleni – Hîncești 6540
R 45 Edineț – Pîrjota 2415
R 46 Cuporani – Iargara 106.2
R 47 Cimișlia – Sărata Nouă 3924
R 49 Basarabeasca → Ukraine 42.5
R 50 Dubăsari – Criuleni 63.7
R 51 Otaci – Ocnița 2616
R 52 Tudora – Palanca 148.7
R 53 Glodeni – Cobani 1912
R 54 Cunicea – Soloneț 3019
R 55 Briceni → Ukraine 31.9
R 56 Cantemir – Tartaul de Salcie 4830
R 57 Fălești – Costești 5937
R 59 Bulboaca – Delacău 2918
Total 2,504 1,556

Local roads

In Moldova, local roads mainly serve as links between district administrative centers and villages/communes located in the specific district, as well as between one village/commune and another.[1] They are maintained by the appropriate local authorities depending on their location, previously being maintained by the national state-owned company Administrația de Stat a Drumurilor (ASD) until 2017. Since then, the ASD solely maintains national roads, with the exception of those located in Transnistria.[2]

European routes

European routes (E-roads) passing through the Republic of Moldova:[7]

Transnistria

As an autonomous territory with limited recognition as an independent state, the authorities of Transnistria, which is internationally recognized as part of Moldova, have complete control of all road segments that pass through the breakaway territory. The M4 highway, which crosses Transnistria on the north–south reference, is in complete control of Transnistria, as well as parts of M1 and M5, and many segments of republican and local roads. The complete length of the Transnistrian road network totals 1,070 km (660 mi).[2]

References
  1. Roads law no. 509/22.06.1995
  2. Raportul 2020 asd.md
  3. "News on road tax in Moldova". Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  4. "(VIDEO) Drumul care trebuia să fie prima autostradă din Moldova: aşa arată în prezent construcţia porţiunii Porumbrei-Cimişlia". piataauto.md.
  5. "Autostradă de 100 de km în Moldova! Subiectul a ajuns în agenda Parlamentului European și a Comisiei Europene". autoblog.md. 28 May 2019.
  6. "IDEP suggests making Chișinău-Ungheni highway national priority". IPN.
  7. Google. "Map of Moldovan road network" (Map). Google Maps. Google.
  8. "Agreement signed for Ukraine-Moldova bridge". 14 June 2023.
  9. "Moldova - Road numbering systems". sites.google.com. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
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