News

Norway’s Ministry of Transport and Communications wants to curb the construction of new roundabouts in the Scandinavian country. The ministry reportedly wrote to the Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) in mid December, asking that new main roads have no roundabouts. Also, the ministry wants new roads to be located if possible built outside of large settlements to avoid the need for traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps. But the Public Roads Administration has pushed back, replying t

Papua New Guinea is set to start road and bridge upgrades that could cost upwards of US$576 million. Work on bridges will be paid partly through agreements with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, amounting to around US$53 million, and the Asian Development Bank which is putting in nearly $32 million. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs has also earmarked $101 million to upgrade of arterial roads to standard concrete in the port city of Lae, the capital of Morobe Province. Lae, the

In Indonesia investment in infrastructure will see the construction of a new bridge and toll roads in Banten Province during 2015. The work is intended to help with the development of the Merak Port, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The plan includes construction of a 3km toll road and a 600m bridge to connect to the port. Another project planned is for an 84km toll road. The Panimbang-Serang road will become part of the 5,000km nationwide toll road network and will provide a link to t

Moroccan Ministry for Equipment and Transport has said that its 20-year plan for the country's motorway network will require an investment of US$5.86 billion. Funding sources for all of the work have yet to be secured. The country’s tolled highway system has been a success, although the Casablanca-Rabat-Tangiers route generates much of the total revenue. Morocco’s Ministry for Transport and Equipment is also looking to source financing worth $532.6 million. This will be used to repair damage to the road ne

The Moscow Construction Department has announced that the country’s financial issues will not halt current construction projects in the capital. Some US$1.23 billion will be spent on the development of roads in Moscow during 2015. The funds will be spent on building 83km of roads, 23 engineering structures, and 20 cross walks.

A €305.7 million loan is being provided to Romania through the European Commission. This will be used to to fund the construction of the Cernavoda-Constanta section of the Sun Highway. The loan will not have to be repaid as it will fall under the Cohesion Fund. The Romania retroactively requested the EU to fund the Highway after contracting with the European Investment Bank in 2005 for a loan to cover construction costs.

The authorities in the Philippines have given preliminary approval for a series of major PPP projects. One of these five key PPP projects is for the expansion of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway. The projects still need the approval of the board of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

The EU plans to support studies on the development of electric vehicle (EV) traffic in Northern Europe. The EU's TEN-T Programme is providing €1 million for a study as well as a pilot on the deployment of EVs and the necessary charging infrastructure along major highways in southern Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany. The project will help boost long distance travel using EVs across borders. One of the major limiting factors to the wider use of EVs on European roads is lack of suitable charging stations.

Vietnam has seen steady improvement in road safety, with the number of traffic related fatalities dropping below 9,000 in 2014. This is the first time the country’s fatality rate has dropped below 9,000 for a number of years. Official data shows that some provinces have successfully lowered down the number of traffic accidents by over 20% in 2014, compared with the previous year. In all provinces or cities 10 reported sharp declines; Da Nang, Bac Giang, Lang Son, Ca Mau, Nam Dinh, Cao Bang, Ninh Thuan, Bac

International interest is strong in Colombia’s infrastructure expansion. Five foreign firms are competing in the country’s 4G road tender process. Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), Sinohydro, Sacyr, Tradeco and ICA are amongst the companies competing for 10 contracts worth some US$5.88 billion. The first project opening for tender on 19th May 2015 will be for the Puerta de Hierro-Carreto-Palmar de Varela and Carreto-Cruz del Viso routes. The final tender documents for the 10 projects are being pu

The Indian Government has plans for massive investment in road and transport infrastructure. The country’s Road Transport Ministry has announced it will spend some US$ 80.65 billion in developing its road network between 2015 and 2019. Contracts for some 40,000km of road in all will be awarded during this period. The country also has a strategy of supporting private investment in transport through lower interest rates on loans for PPPs, providing partial funding from central government for local road safety

Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) is in discussions to form a joint venture for construction of a toll bridge connecting the islands of Mactan and Cebu in the Philippines. Cebu is an island province that incorporates 167 surrounding islands and islets, one of them being Mactan, which lies immediately off Cebu Island, across from Cebu City. MPIC’s subsidiary, Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp (MPTDC), is proposing an 8.3km bridge costing around US$380 million, according to local media reports

Several major road works are among 15 public-private partnership projects in the Philippines tagged by the World Bank as essential for improving transport in Southeast Asia. The list includes the US$3.4 billion Plaridel Bypass toll road, the $354 million North Luzon Expressway East Expressway, the $171 million Central Luzon Link Expressway-Phase II, as well as the $52.5 million improvement, operation and maintenance of Kennon Road and Marcos Highway. All of the projects, which include major airport an

The European Union's TEN-T programme has allocated US$1.15 million for studies to upgrade for the last remaining section on the main motorway connecting Sweden and Denmark. The 30km section, bypassing Ljungby in southern Sweden, is expected to increase driver safety, cut down on accidents and reduce travel time. Widening the road to motorway standard will eliminate a bottleneck, but the study will also consider ground protection and noise reduction measures. The studies will come up with an Environmen