Honduras will improve road access to the city of San Pedro Sula, the country’s industrial hub, with a US$20 million financing from the Inter-American Development Bank.
The operation, in the context of a program for the integral improvement of the CA-5 Norte Highway, will expand and rehabilitate the Second Peripheral Ring Road between the northern headquarters of the Chamelecon river and the Gala intersection, to ease the congestion that occurs as the road cuts through the city. Works under this program will allow for faster access to Puerto Cortés.
San Pedro Sula, the capital of the Department of Cortés, is located in the Sula valley in northwestern Honduras, 60 km south of Puerto Cortés, a Caribbean sea port.
“The Government of Honduras established specific objectives in the National Plan to upgrade the road infrastructure in order to comply with regional integration requirements, seeking to increase the country’s competitiveness while promoting domestic economic activity,” said IDB team leader Rafael Acevedo.
“The 2007-2010 IDB strategy agreed with Honduras focuses on competitiveness”, added Acevedo. “Under the competitiveness pillar, one of the key priorities is to reduce logistic and productive costs, emphasizing the central role of the transport sector and investments in the sector. The IDB has been an active participant in the transport sector of Honduras, financing works and helping build the sector institutional framework.”
The IDB financing includes a US$14 million loan for a 30-year term, with a 5.5-year grace period, at an adjustable interest rate, and a US$6 million concessional loan from the IDB Fund for Special Operations, for a 40-year term and grace period, at a 0.25 per cent interest rate. Local counterpart funds will total US$2 million. The Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Housing will carry out the program.