IDB Supports Guatemalan Initiative to Expand Lanes to Key Section of Northern Highway CA-9

WASHINGTON — The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved loan of $350 million to help Guatemala add lanes to the Teculután-Mayuelas section of Northern Highway CA-9.

The operation, which has been approved by the IDB Board of Executive Directors, finances a plan to better connect international trade hubs and further integrate the region in a safe and resilient way. This operation is part of the "América en el Centro" program.

Adding more lanes to the Teculután-Mayuelas section will benefit 86,600 residents and 2,057 businesses in Teculután, Río Hondo, and Gualán in the department of Zacapa. It will also benefit the 19,000 people who use this stretch of road daily and anyone else travelling on the northern part of Highway CA-9. Additionally, it will help 4,475 families through forest conservation in the watersheds that the highway crosses.

Northern Highway CA-9 is the main corridor for international trade, integrating the country with the rest of the region. It links the ports of Santo Tomás de Castilla and Puerto Barrios on the Atlantic Ocean with the ports of San José and Quetzal on the Pacific Ocean, via its southern counterpart. It also runs through Guatemala City, the country’s main logistics, industrial, and consumer hub.

The current infrastructure of the Teculután-Mayuelas section is inadequate and highly vulnerable to extreme events like floods. This leads to low levels of service, long travel times, higher vehicle operation costs, unsafe conditions, and limited accessibility in cities.

To tackle these challenges, the program will fund work to four-lane 47.5 kilometers of this section, using resilient designs to ensure the highway stays open. It will build and improve bypasses, structures, intersections, and paving; construct bridges and culverts; and implement road safety measures, universal accessibility in cities, and infrastructure to promote active mobility.

To mitigate the effects of floods and make the infrastructure more sustainable, the program will use nature-based solutions in high-risk areas. These measures build the capacity of farmers in the watersheds to preserve and restore forests and expand the area covered by agroforestry, silvopasture, and other restorative systems.

The program will also fund pre-investment studies with the engineering design for sections of Northern Highway CA-9 to Puerto Barrios that have yet to be widened and improved.

The $350 million operation has a 23-year repayment term, a 7.5-year grace period, and an interest rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).