Program will also strengthen local government ability to conduct efficient road infrastructure planning and management 

Argentina will improve the Buenos Aires Province road infrastructure with a traffic safety and capacity enhancement program supported by a $200 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The program will help boost road traffic quality by enhancing capacity on some segments of the main road network and raising safety standards, which will reduce vehicle operation costs, travel time and the number of accidents. It will also contribute to boost up spending efficiency, strengthening road assets planning and management processes, improving the road network operation, and providing support to pre-investment provisions.

The Buenos Aires Province road network is under heavy strain due to an increase in the number of vehicles and volume of transported cargo, particularly near large urban areas and accesses to the main ports, which affects road safety, logistics costs, travel time and foreign trade competitiveness.

The program will boost traffic capacity by upgrading to highways some roads that are crucial for the transportation of both provincial production and of goods from around the nation making their way to the Buenos Aires port.

Works will include doubling the width of some roads, paving road shoulders, and building traffic distributors and transport hubs on diverse levels to access different localities, as well as supervising the project’s technical and environmental aspects.

The funds will also strengthen the province’s ability to plan and execute roadworks by helping it, among other things, to formulate a road investment plan; design and implement a road assets management system; conduct pre-investment studies with project engineering designs that will be made part of future investment programs; and launch a plan to improve corporate governance of the state-run Autopistas de Buenos Aires S.A. (AUBASA) road company.

Additionally, the program will fund a plan to adopt Intelligent Transportation Systems at AUBASA’s toll-collection points, conduct safety audits on the main corridors, and strengthen the provincial Highway Department’s ability to design and implement road safety measures.

The $200 million IDB loan is for a 25-year term, with 5.5 years of grace and a LIBOR-based interest rate. It includes an additional $80 million in local counterpart funds.