IDB finances highway programs in Argentina, Paraguay

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has announced it will provide US$300mn in financing for a program to improve safety and expand the Ruta No. 19 national highway in Argentina, which connects the cities of Córdoba, Santa Fe and Paraná, and provides access to ports in Rosario Reconquista, Santa Fe and Diamante.

The program is intended to improve vehicle circulation throughout the corridor, reducing travel time and transport costs, improving road safety and eliminating road blockages due to weather factors.

The loan will be used finance construction of a new two-lane, 120km highway with interchanges at different levels and access to towns in its area of direct influence, and 35.4km of new lanes on the same highway between San Francisco and Montecristo, in Córdoba province.

"It will also finance the design of the Safe Roads Program, including the drafting of technical documents, regulations and intervention protocols, as well as projects for one or two pilot roads with the new safe highway standard," the IDB said in a release.

The Ruta No. 19 highway is one of the main roads in central Argentina and also connects Córdoba with the northern Argentine region, Uruguay and Brazil, as well as Chile through the Agua Negra pass.

The US$300mn loan will be over 25 years with a 4.5-year grace period and an interest rate pegged to the Libor rate. The local contribution amounts to US$200mn.

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The IDB will also back a road upgrade and conservation project in Paraguay with the approval of a US$90mn loan.

Works include paving of a 90km stretch between San Juan Nepomuceno and Ruta No. 6, key to national and international integration as it connects the south-central part of eastern Paraguay, home to over 50% of agricultural production, with the Paraguay-Paraná waterway.

The project will also finance works to improve, widen and conserve major roads in the east and to build beltways around three populated areas, reducing heavy vehicle traffic, noise, pollution, and risk of accidents in these communities.

This US$90mn loan is over 23 years with a grace period of seven and a half years and an interest rate pegged to the Libor rate.