The passage of the Union, through which millions of cars pass, built in 34 days: it was once the pride of socialism, and now, the ruin of capitalism

One of the most crossed passages in Bucharest, the Union Passage was built in just 34 days. Find out why he is going to be imprisoned, but also what he represents for the traffic in Bucharest.

This passage can be found in the center of the Capital, being one of the most crossed paths in the whole city. The passage represents the connection between the south, the center and the north of Bucharest, being crossed daily by thousands of cars. What not all drivers who pass by know is that the passage was built in just 34 days.

Since the 1980s, this passage has been a growing need for the busiest area of ​​the city, so the authorities have decided to start building an underground passage to streamline traffic in the Unirii Square area.

Unirii Passage is the longest passage in Bucharest, with a length of 900 meters, and of this, 600 meters are covered. The passage is provided with 4 traffic lanes, a traffic monitoring system, but also a ventilation system.

The Union Passage is to be closed

This was done by the Ministry of Industrial Construction. The former Minister of Industrial Construction, Ion C. Petre, wanted to be as close as possible to the construction of the passage, so he lived in a container in the middle of the building to ensure that it was carried out according to plan.

The construction was completed in just 34 days, being a record for both those times and the current times, compared to the “speed” with which other constructions are currently completed. However, in addition to these 34 days, there are also the few months during which the preparatory operations were carried out.

In fact, after about six months, the passage that crosses two metro lines and the Dâmbovița River was inaugurated on June 6, 1987. After almost four decades, the Union Passage is to be closed. More specifically, in the summer of 2022 it is to be closed due to the high degree of degradation it presents.

The authorities have been aware of this since 2017, when the expertise showed that the floor of the passage is at a level of risk of grade 4 out of a maximum of 5.