News

Albanian primeminister, Sali Berisha, has promised that his government will keep up its investment in road infrastructure projects, due to their importance to the economy. The PM was speaking at the launch of two new road sections, between Uzina e Autotraktoreve and Lanabregas, and the Bridge of Surrelit to Farka. Both of the sections were built using funding from the EBRD and the EIB, with some funding also being provided by the Albanian government.

Indonesia’s government is setting a US $ 20 billion budget for transport and energy sector development. The country’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said the government plans to build 559km of new roads as part of a new transport infrastructure program.

A shortage of skilled engineers has caused a delay in the renovation of tunnels in Norway, according to Tore Braaten, project leader in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens Vegvesen). Braaten has called for the Ministry of Transport to attract expertise from abroad to improve the situation. Responding to Braaten, transport secretary, Lars Erik Bartnes, emphasised that the engineer shortage is a problem for tunnel renovation, rather than the construction of new tunnels.

The New Zealand government is to fund a NZ $ 10 million investment in additional speed cameras in a bid to improve road safety nationally. The ratio of speed cameras per 0.1mn people stands at 1.3 compared to 2.5 and 4.8 in the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria, respectively. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) will use the government cash to increase the number of speed cameras from 55 to at least by 2015.

Povolzhupravtodor, a subsidiary of the Russian Federal Highway Agency, has announced a tender for major repairs of a 25km long section of Russia’s M5 Ural highway in the Samara area of Volga. The contract is estimated to be worth US $ 43.16 million.

In a bid to maintain services and reduce travel times for the Transantiago public transport system, the Chilean government will invest US $ 41.62 million in repairing and upgrading nearly 150km of roads in Santiago. Works are expected to be completed in 2013 and will include 31 different districts across the capital.

Taxis in Saudi Arabia must equipped with an Automated Vehicle Locators (AVL) system, as part of new regulations set to be introduced on 22 October, 2012. The AVL will record the drop-off and pick-up location of the taxis as well as their driving speed. Taxi firms will also need to include minimum third-party insurance coverage for each driver and vehicle.

The ContiTech Power Transmission Group has pledged to continue its fight against product and brand counterfeiters after counterfeit V-ribbed belts, destined for passenger cars and sports utility vehicles (SUV), were discovered in a warehouse in Casablanca, Morocco. The retailer had already prepared them for sale but, after a tip-off from ContiTech, local authorities seized the belts and had them destroyed. The retailer now faces legal prosecution.

The European Commission (EC) has launched a new award that encourages the adoption of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) by local and regional authorities. Under the inaugural theme 'stakeholder and citizen participation', local and regional authorities can submit their SUMPs for award consideration at www.dotherightmix.eu

Spanish construction firm, OHL, has presented an offer to operate the 56km Guadalajara-Colima motorway in Mexico for 12 years. The motorway is being heavily restructured, with the expansion of its four lanes. The first phase of these works has already been completed and investment to date has totalled US $ 54.81million. A further $ 263.66 million is being invested by Banobras on current works. Offers to operate the Guadalajara-Colima motorway must be presented by mid-September 2012.

Spending on road maintenance differs greatly between Swedish municipalities, a report by Svevia has shown. Malmö municipality was the highest spender in Sweden with € 295.53 spent per resident, which compared with the country's lowest spending municipality Berg, where € 14.27 per resident was invested in road maintenance.

To generate savings on motorways Transport Minister, Frédéric Cuvillier, may ask the three largest operators (Vinci Autoroutes, APRR, Sanef-SAPN) to take on maintenance and renovation spending on certain sections in exchange for concession extensions. Motorways in Ile-de-France and stretches of motorways around Paris (A6, A10 and A13) could be among the first to be subject to the new maintenance and renovation arrangements. Negotiations will start with ASFA (Association des Société Françaises d'Autoroutes).