Currently, there are three defined types of public roads in the Republic of Moldova:[1]
In total, Moldova has a total length of 10680km (6,640miles) of road. From those, are national roads and are local roads.[2] The general maximum speed limit on public roads is, while a speed limit of is imposed inside localities.
Its current road network is inherited from the former Soviet Union (the Moldavian SSR).
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]
As of 2021, there are no segments of motorway (ro|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 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 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.
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 (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 in Moldova are divided into two categories: magistral roads (ro|Drumuri magistrale) and republican roads (ro|Drumuri republicane). 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. All magistral roads start or pass through the capital city of Chișinău, with the exception of the M4.
See 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, modern-day M1 comprises between the Romanian border and Chișinău, to which are added of the former M21 highway towards the Ukrainian border, M21 having been merged into the M1.
See 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 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.[7]
See 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 long.
Future plans call for the Chișinău - Cimișlia section to become a motorway-class road, the first motorway in Moldova.
See 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 long.
See main article: M5 highway (Moldova). The M5 (M14 CIS) is the longest Moldovan road, at, crossing Moldova on the north - south reference. It passes through the three most populous Moldovan cities (Chișinău, Bălți and Tiraspol), as well as Edineț.
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.[8] 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.
| Number | Route | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| km | mi | ||
| Ukraine → Dubăsari – Chișinău – Leușeni → Romania | 154km (96miles) | ||
| Chișinău – Orhei – Soroca → Ukraine | 155km (96miles) | ||
| M2 – Cosăuți | 3.5km (02.2miles) | ||
| Chișinău – Cimișlia – Comrat – Vulcănești → Romania | 217km (135miles) | ||
| M3 – Comrat East | 4.3km (02.7miles) | ||
| Tiraspol – Dubăsari – Rîbnița – Hristovaia → Ukraine | 178km (111miles) | ||
| Ukraine → Edineț – Bălți – Chișinău – Tiraspol → Ukraine | 370km (230miles) | ||
| Total | 1,082 | 672 | |
| Number | Route | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| km | mi | ||
| Chișinău – Strășeni – Călărași – Ungheni → Romania | 118km (73miles) | ||
| Chișinău – Tighina | 60km (40miles) | ||
| Chișinău – Hîncești – Cimișlia → Ukraine | 98km (61miles) | ||
| Chișinău – Criuleni – Dubăsari | 32km (20miles) | ||
| Chișinău – Dorotcaia | 32km (20miles) | ||
| Ialoveni – Dumbrava | 6km (04miles) | ||
| Romania → Rîșcani – Drochia – Soroca | 101km (63miles) | ||
| Edineț – Corbu – Otaci → Ukraine | 55km (34miles) | ||
| Otaci – Soroca | 40km (30miles) | ||
| Ruseni – Ocnița | 19km (12miles) | ||
| Briceni – Ocnița | 35km (22miles) | ||
| Bălți Airport – Drochia – Corbu | 63km (39miles) | ||
| Bălți – Florești – Rîbnița | 52km (32miles) | ||
| Bălți – Sîngerei – Sărătenii Vechi | 66km (41miles) | ||
| Bălți – Glodeni | 30km (20miles) | ||
| Bălți – Fălești – Sculeni → Romania | 49km (30miles) | ||
| Fălești – Pîrlița | 32km (20miles) | ||
| Sîngerei – Florești | 45km (28miles) | ||
| Pohoarna – Sănătăuca | 31km (19miles) | ||
| Călărași – Orhei – Rîbnița | 114km (71miles) | ||
| Răciula – Hîrjauca | 11km (07miles) | ||
| Meleșeni – Telenești – Ratuș | 29km (18miles) | ||
| Ivancea – Criuleni | 34km (21miles) | ||
| Strășeni – Căpriana | 11km (07miles) | ||
| Bucovăț – Nisporeni – Bărboieni | 46km (29miles) | ||
| Cimișlia – Căușeni – Bender – Tiraspol | 103km (64miles) | ||
| Tiraspol – Corotna – Pervomaisc | 49km (30miles) | ||
| Hlinaia – Răscăieții Noi | 18km (11miles) | ||
| Răzeni – Bender | 58km (36miles) | ||
| Chetrosu – Căușeni – Ștefan Vodă → Ukraine | 95km (59miles) | ||
| Căușeni → Ukraine | 18km (11miles) | ||
| Chetrosu – Sălcuța | 51km (32miles) | ||
| Hîncești – Lăpușna – Leușeni | 36km (22miles) | ||
| Hîncești – Cantemir – Cahul – Slobozia Mare | 168km (104miles) | ||
| Comrat – Basarabeasca | 26km (16miles) | ||
| Taraclia – Basarabeasca | 61km (38miles) | ||
| Ceadîr-Lunga – Comrat – Cantemir | 81km (50miles) | ||
| Taraclia – Cahul – Vulcănești | 72km (45miles) | ||
| Biruința – Chetrosu | 31km (19miles) | ||
| Rîșcani – Glodeni | 19km (12miles) | ||
| Ungheni – Bărboieni | 33km (21miles) | ||
| Călărași – Ciuciuleni – Hîncești | 65km (40miles) | ||
| Edineț – Pîrjota | 24km (15miles) | ||
| Cuporani – Iargara | 10km (10miles) | ||
| Cimișlia – Sărata Nouă | 39km (24miles) | ||
| Basarabeasca → Ukraine | 4km (02miles) | ||
| Dubăsari – Criuleni | 6km (04miles) | ||
| Otaci – Ocnița | 26km (16miles) | ||
| Tudora – Palanca | 14km (09miles) | ||
| Glodeni – Cobani | 19km (12miles) | ||
| Cunicea – Soloneț | 30km (20miles) | ||
| Briceni → Ukraine | 3km (02miles) | ||
| Cantemir – Tartaul de Salcie | 48km (30miles) | ||
| Fălești – Costești | 59km (37miles) | ||
| Bulboaca – Delacău | 29km (18miles) | ||
| Total | 2,504 | 1,556 | |
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. 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.
European routes (E-roads) passing through the Republic of Moldova:
(Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania) - Ungheni - Călărași - Chișinău - Tiraspol - (Ukraine, Russia)
(Ukraine) - Palanca - (Ukraine) - Giurgiulești - (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey)
(Romania) - Leușeni - Chișinău - Tiraspol - (Ukraine)
(Romania) - Sculeni - Bălți - Edineț - Otaci - (Ukraine)
(Ukraine) - Dubău - Dubăsari - Chișinău - Cimișlia - Comrat - Giurgiulești - (Romania)
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 1070km (670miles).