Tender of 130 million lei for the asphalting of the oldest road in the country, a shorter version in Valea Oltului. Crossed by Roman legions and Knights Templar

The last part of the former DN7 D, current 703H, was put up for auction for modernization, and the county authorities are looking for a designer and a builder for the asphalting and modernization of the road considered to be the oldest in the country. For this, 130 million lei are offered, money received by the Vâlcea County Council through the Anghel Saligny Program.

The road starts from DN7 (from the town of Câinenii Mici), crosses the north of Vâlcea county, through the communes of Câineni, Boişoara, Titesti and Perişani, and continues in Argeş with a county road, and then towards Pitesti.

It is the shortest route between Argeş and Sibiu counties and, at the same time, an alternative to DN 7, bypassing both Valea Oltului and Dealul Negru, very congested areas. And it is even shorter than Valea Oltului, by about 30 kilometers.

“DN 7 Râmncu Vâlcea – Sibiu, the most important road artery in Romania, which crosses the country from south to west, ensuring the passage of the Carpathian chain at the lowest elevation, is practically blocked at certain times of the day in certain intervals of the year, and tourist cars have no other option to bypass the Olt Valley. As a bypass solution, DJ 703H, which has a route parallel to DN 7, is a viable option, because together with the other county roads, some of them rehabilitated or in the process of being rehabilitated, it offers the possibility of bypassing the area between Câineni and Călimănești”, it is stated in The specifications accompanying the tender.

The road is designed for a speed of 50-80 km/h, the carriageway will have two lanes and will be at least 6 meters wide

It has never been paved. Last time, paved by King Ferdinand

The road, never asphalted, was requested by CJ Vâlcea to be modernized, and in 2021 the first 3 kilometers were modernized.

“I am very happy that, only two months after we took over DN 7D, we are pouring the first 3 kilometers of asphalt on this dirt road. In this way, we are taking the first concrete steps to return to normalcy, I would say, because it is unfair for the local people and for those who transit this superb area that, in the 21st century, they use a road that is far below the standards of the time”, declared the President of the Council at the time Vâlcea County, Constantin Rădulescu.

Asphalting was done on a portion of only three kilometers, in the village of Spinu in Perişani commune, where the road was in an advanced state of degradation, but the 31 kilometers will be paved in its entirety, the county president promised at the time.

Since 2018, Rădulescu has been asking for money to modernize the road, which he says is “the oldest in Romania”.

Since 3 years ago, Constantin Rădulescu campaigned for the restoration of this picturesque road, which would allow avoiding the congestion on the Olt Valley. In 2018, Rădulescu considered the artery “the oldest road in Romania, the place where Wallachia was born. It is an extremely important artery for what will mean the development of this area of ​​Vâlcea county, one of the most beautiful in Romania”.

The last rehabilitation works were carried out during the reign of King Ferdinand, when it was cobbled together.

“The oldest road in Romania, National Road 7 D, an error in the road documents that has been in place for more than 10 years, a road that crosses history and time, but at the same time perhaps the most beautiful mountain depression of Vâlcea.

The place where Wallachia was born, the place where the mountains surround the area that gave rise to the Bessarabian dynasty, the place where Posada ended forever the dream of expanding the Hungarian kingdom, so the road of the Romans, the road of the Crusaders, the silk road, the road that connected Western Europe with the East, this road, which is over 2000 years old, today records the most important date in its history.

After being abandoned by history three centuries ago, with the construction of the Olt Valley, reaching today a certain dirt road that cuts like an aorta Loviştei Land, five communes depending on it, this road finally receives a paternity”, notes Rădulescu on this historic road, he writes The truth.

During Ceausescu’s time, it was wanted to be modernized by foreigners

The people of the area said that although there have been attempts to patch the road over time, with gravel, the fact that it is transited by heavy tonnage cars loaded with wood, leads to its destruction and keeping it in a state of continuous degradation. “Big cars pass by, loaded with wood. But no one puts in a ballast car, even though money is made on his account”.

And those from CNAIR who arrived in the area to make “small touch-ups”, draw attention to this problem and ask those who exploit the wood in the area to stop overloading the trucks.

“In 1987, several specialists from France, Italy and from us came here. They stayed here in Perişani for 10 days, they measured, they discussed. Then they went to Bucharest and went to the then prime minister – Dascălescu. Ceausescu would have agreed for foreigners to modernize it, but Dascălescu said: leave it, because we, the Romanians, can do it too”, says another local resident, quoted by The truth.

Photo source: Google Maps

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