The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a $42.2 million loan to the Bahamas to support investments in transportation services and infrastructure that will improve the road network, enhance safety, promote public transportation and protect the environment.
Road improvement and management measures, to be carried out in New Providence Island, will channel traffic flows to ease congestion and protect local communities from unnecessary vehicle movement.
Twenty-three kilometers of existing roads will be improved, mainly by widening, and 15 kilometers of new roads will be built. Among the new works will be the completion of three new corridors - two north-south in the middle sector of the island and one east-west in the western sector. The main east-west corridor will be upgraded from a two-lane road to a four-lane road. Intersection design, traffic control, signage, pavement markings, and signal timing will also be improved.
The resources will also finance preparation studies in such areas as engineering design, economic feasibility, and environmental protection.
The Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Works* will be strengthened in the areas of traffic management, planning, and regulation, and a Transport Planning Unit will be established to study economic alternatives that will reduce automobile use. Measures will be taken to improve road safety and maintenance, including better data collection on accidents, development of new safety manuals, and planning and monitoring of maintenance works, among other activities.
The total cost of the program is $66 million. The IDB loan is for a 20-year term, with a four-year grace period, at the variable interest rate, now 7.1 percent. Local counterpart funds total $19.8 million.
The IDB is currently assisting Bahamas with a $43 million loan to rehabilitate infrastructure, including elements of the surface transportation system in the Family Islands that were damaged by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.