The Inter-American Development Bank today approved a $120 million loan to the state of São Paulo, Brazil, to improve the state’s highway network and to enhance and expand intercity bus terminals.
The resources will enable the state’s Transport Department* to rehabilitate pavement, road shoulders, masonry and components of the drainage system of about 1,000 kilometers of highway, including civil engineering works to stabilize embankments suffering from active erosion.
Improvements in circulation patterns and safety features are expected to halve accidents on the highways in the program.
Twenty new bus terminals will be built and 60 interurban bus terminals outside the metropolitan area of São Paulo will be improved to deliver better service to all users, including those with mobility restrictions or disabilities.
The Transport Department will be strengthened through investments in training, pavement management systems, traffic statistics and environmental management.
Among the benefits of the program will be lower transportation costs, better surface transportation service for passengers, improved market access for agricultural and industrial production, greater road safety, and lower medium- and long-term vehicle maintenance and repair costs.
The total cost of the program is $240 million.
The IDB loan is for a 20-year term, with 4.5-year grace period, at the variable currency pool annual interest rate, now 6.29 percent. Local counterpart funds total $120 million.
Since 1968 the IDB has loaned more than $1.3 billion for projects in the state of São Paulo. In recent years the Bank helped finance significant investments in sanitation, housing, and rail mass transit.