The new road bridge between Romania and Ukraine, crossing the Tisza River near Sighetu Marmatiei, will open to traffic on 8 October, Maramures County Council (CJ) President Gabriel Zetea told AGERPRES on Friday.

'After many delays due to various reasons, the new road bridge will become operational on 8 October, when it will be opened in the presence of Romanian and Ukrainian authorities. In order to make traffic operational on the mentioned date, a series of meetings and clarifications were held with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, the National Road Investment Company and other institutions responsible for operations at the new crossing point with Ukraine,' Gabriel Zetea said.

He also said that, in order to make road traffic to and from Ukraine operational, the Customs Authority and Border Police had to have all systems operational and the necessary staff in place.

The new road bridge over the Tisza River between Romania and Ukraine will operate alongside the old bridge, which has been in use since the beginning of 2000, which is located a considerable distance from the new structure.

With the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, road traffic on the old wooden and metal bridge, with a single lane and two pedestrian walkways, increased significantly. This year, the bridge underwent repairs, as the structure had been affected by prolonged use.

The newly built bridge cost more than 50 million euros and will connect Sighetu Marmatiei with Bila Tserkva in Ukraine. The bridge is 268 metres long and was designed to last at least 100 years.

The main features of the bridge include a new 1.2-kilometre road, the structure is made up of two parallel bridges, 3 metres apart, with one bridge for each direction of traffic, with a total length of 268 metres, two lanes in each direction, pavements, five drainage bridges, a roundabout junction and a border crossing point.

The border crossing point consists of six lanes in each direction: two lanes for passenger vehicles, two freight transport lanes, one lane for the Diplomatic Corps and one lane for passenger transport, two administrative buildings for border police and customs and four inspection halls, equipped with all the facilities required to comply with the provisions of the Schengen guidelines. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Leontin Cupar; EN - writing by: Rodica State)