Finance & Funding

Renovation and widening of the A1 motorway in the Netherlands will start this month, according to the Dutch environment and infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat. The section covers 65km, between Apeldoorn and junction Azelo. Work is expected to take around 10 years and cost about €400 million. The A1 – 199km long - connects the capital city Amsterdam, near the interchange of Watergraafsmeer, with the German border near Oldenzaal and Bad Bentheim, and the German Autobahn BAB 30. On its way, it crosses

Several major road projects are underway in Paraguay at present, though issues are afflicting some. Although the Rute del Este consortium comprising Sacyr, Mota Engil and Ocho A was awarded the PPP contract to upgrade Ruta 2 and Ruta 7, the necessary funding has yet to be delivered. The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the US Bank have both said that they would give the necessary funding. A new deadline has been set for the funds to be delivered at the end of March 2019. Meanwhile there are also d

Puerto Rico is setting out plans for its road repair programme, which is intended to upgrade links right across the island.

A new highway is to be built in North Korea, connecting Hamhung with Wonsan. The 112km highway project is being split into five sections for the tender process, which is being handled by a Chinese firm. Funding is being supplied by China for the project. Construction is expected to start in the second quarter of 2019, with the completion date set for the second quarter of 2022. The project does face a number of challenges however, not the least of which is how equipment will be provided for the work give th

Hlidac Statu, the Czech government spending watchdog, criticised the slow pace of motorway construction, saying it lags behind other EU states in the eastern region. But Czech prime minister Andrej Babis hit back, saying that his government has overseen an unprecedented level of motorway construction and investment. Radio Praha reported that Michal Bláha, founder of the watchdog, said data from Eurostat shows that only 300km of new motorway has been built in the Czech republic since 2000. Eurostat, ba

Almost €348 million will be needed for a 32km extension to Poland’s A2 motorway from Biala Podlaska to Terespol, near the border with Belarussia. A tender for a design and build contract is expected to be called in 2020. But funding is still not for certain under the National Road Construction Programme that looks at work until 2023. Recently, a €1.3 million contract was signed with Multiconsult Polska to prepare an investment plan. The A2 runs from west to east through central Poland, from the Pol

A new proposal for congestion charging in Los Angeles has been put forward as a possible solution to the city’s traffic woes. The CEO of the Los Angeles Metro system has suggested that a congestion charge for drivers could be used to allow riders to use the city’s transit system for free. Under the proposed scheme, drivers would be charged for entering certain districts of the city at peak travel periods. The proposal has been put forward as a way of smoothing out transport ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games.

Cambodia’s capital’s key connection construction contract is commencing. Work is now underway for the Phnom Penh ring road project. The new ring road will measure 53km long and funding for the US$273 million project is being provided jointly by the Cambodian Government and Chinese Government. Building the new ring road will take around 42 months and the new route should open to traffic in late 2021. The studies into the new route are being carried out by the Chinese specialist Guangzhou Wanan Construction S

Construction of the WestConnex project in New South Wales, Australia is facing criticism over a lack of accountability over the work. The US$11.85 billion (A$16.8 billion) project is intended to improve transport in and around the city of Sydney and involves building a 33km tolled motorway. The work is costly and complex, with much of the route being built in tunnels and this is Australia’s largest road project. However criticism has been levelled at the state government for not considering a number of opti