World Bank Approves $400 Million Roads and Safety Improvement Project for Ukraine
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2009 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the Roads and Safety Improvement Project for Ukraine in the amount of $400 million. The objective of this, the first World Bank financed transport project in Ukraine, is to improve the condition and quality of sections of the M-03 road and increase traffic safety along Ukraine’s main road network. It will be implemented by the State Road Administration of Ukraine, Ukravtodor.
The project forms part of the World Bank’s response to the social and economic crisis affecting Ukraine. It will lay the foundations for future growth and competitiveness, while at the same time creating jobs and fiscal stimulus to mitigate the effects of the economic downturn.
Ukraine is an important transit country given its location between Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the European market. The project will help integrate Ukraine’s transport network with that of the EU, promote Ukraine’s transit potential, and maximize the use of Ukraine’s existing transport assets. It will also contribute to making travel by road safer, thus helping to reduce the high rate of accident related deaths and injuries in Ukraine (7,690 died in road accidents in 2008).
“This project comes just at the right time for Ukraine,” says Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, “It helps lay the foundations for future growth and competitiveness through improved transport infrastructure. At the same time, it will create demand for local jobs and civil works, thus helping reduce the negative impact of the current crisis on people’s livelihoods.”
The Roads and Safety Improvement Project will finance various activities under the following main components:
Road Rehabilitation of a 120 kilometer section (Boryspil-Lubny) of the Kyiv-Kharkiv-Dovzhansky road (M-03). This component comprises civil works for the rehabilitation/ strengthening of the existing 2x2 lanes of the M-03 road, including safety measures for the vehicles (signaling, lighting in critical sections, crash barriers, etc.,) and for local inhabitants (pedestrian crossings, parking, and special facilities).
Road safety improvement. The project will carry out a program of safety measures for vehicles and local inhabitants at traffic accident black spots on public roads (about 110 black spots will be targeted). The component will fund the supply and installation of road safety improvements such as vertical and horizontal signaling, reflectors (cats’ eyes), rumble strips, and modern crash barriers on the most critical points on public roads.
Capacity Building. Provision of advisory services, training and equipment to enhance road management according to international practice
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For more information about the World Bank in Ukraine, please visit http://www.worldbank.org.ua/
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