The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a $30 million loan to support the widening and improvement of CA-5 Norte, the principal highway in Honduras.
CA-5 Norte links the capital city, Tegucigalpa, with Honduras’ main industrial area, San Pedro Sula, and the only deep-water port in Central America, Puerto Cortes, on the Caribbean coast. To the south, it leads to the Salvadoran port of Cutuco, on the Pacific.
The new financing will complement a $50 million loan approved by the IDB in 2004 to finance work on key parts of CA-5 Norte. Those projects, which are underway, also have financing from the World Bank, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, the OPEC Fund and the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation.
The investments will turn 60% of CA-5 Norte into a four-lane highway, while 17% will have a third climbing lane and 23% will remain with two lanes. The program, which will improve signage along 350 kilometers of highways, has also set up a system to collect data on accidents to pinpoint critical spots on the Honduran road network.
The program has also strengthened the Honduran Public Works Ministry’s capacity for planning, environmental management and contract administration.
CA-5 Norte is part of the Atlantic Corridor of the international road network of Plan Puebla Panama, a regional integration initiative sponsored by Central American countries and Mexico.