A recent report issued by the Romanian Academic Society (SAR), indicates that the local traffic in Romania is overly concentrated on national roads and that highways, although useful, are not the main priority and do not represent the answer for all problems.

According to the document published on Thursday, the poor geometry, the delays in maintenance and the lack of ring-roads are the main reasons that make the chances to die on a road in Romania 40 times bigger than the European average.

The report also shows that the construction costs per kilometer of highway are double in Romania, compared to other Eastern and Central European countries. Some of the maintenance and operating costs are double even when compared to the US or the European Union.

SAR appreciates as “fantasy strategies” the projects for building highways and express roads before 2013, showing that this would mean a funds absorption capacity of 2-3 billion euros per year, when the true capacity is, as proved during the past few years, only 500 million euros.