Bicycle Path to Link Black Sea Coastal Cities in Bulgaria and Romania

A bicycle path consistent with European standards will be built between the town of Shabla, on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, and the resort village of 2 Mai on Romania’s coast, Romanian media reported.

The 500,000-euro project, financed by Brussels, will begin in May. According to the Romanian daily newspaper Adevarul, its expected completion date is in November.

Both the Bulgarian and Romanian municipalities have received approval for the project and will organize a tender for the construction of the path shortly.

The town of Shabla is located on Bulgaria’s northernmost Black Sea coast, about 80 kilometers north of the major port city of Varna. The waters around the town boast many sunken ships that make it a popular destination for diving. In addition, the nearby Shabla Lake is a natural reserve, housing a diverse population of animal and plant species, while the area round Shabla’s lighthouse boast numerous warm, sulphur-rich mineral water springs.

The bicycle path project is the latest in a series of initiatives to build closer and stronger ties between the two states. Despite the fact that Bulgaria and Romania are neighboring countries, the traffic levels over the Danube – which forms much of the nearly 500-kilometer border between them, were surprisingly low until a few years ago.

This is changing rapidly, as the scores of Romanians who head south for the holidays testifies.

Another much-anticipated development is the construction of a second bridge over the Danube between Vidin and Calafat in the western part of the border, which has been in the works for the past two decades, but is scheduled to be completed by 2010.


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