By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Inter-American Development Bank, know as IDB, announced that will offer to Costa Rica a long-term line of financing for investment in sustainable projects to improve and expand parts of its strategic road network, specifically to enhance development and the flow of traffic in the Greater Metropolitan Area, know as GAM.

The GAM consists of the provinces of San José, Cartago, Alajuela, and Heredia.

According to the Inter-American Development Bank, these investments are aimed at boosting the competitiveness of the metropolitan region around the capital San José and driving economic growth around the country.

“The GAM accounts for nearly 60 percent of all employment in Costa Rica,” said the Inter-American Development Bank in its statement. “The cities of San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, which are linked by Highways 1 and 2,  generate half of all jobs and see almost 1.5 million people commuting to work each day.” 

The $350 million conditional line of credit will be handled with two transactions, said the Inter-American Development Bank.

The first sets aside $178 million for specific works, of which $125 million will be financed by the bank and $53 million by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport through the National Road Council.

The second operation earmarks $225 million to finance completion of new highway to San Carlos and works to complement Highways 1 and 2.

The specific goals of those projects are to make it cheaper for trucks to operate and cut travel time and pollution emissions by vehicles in general. The line of credit is also designed to improve the government's technical and institutional ability to develop transport projects through public-private partnerships.

In order to minimize the risk of of road upgrades luring more drivers out onto the road, the program foresees the creation of a lane set aside exclusively for public transport. It also calls for the design of urban works that complement roads, which besides offering green areas promote the use of non-motorized vehicles and reduce the need for travel by linking roads to urban development.

The operations also call for technical assistance to change the structure of the highway toll system so the money raised can be used to discourage people from driving and to assess proposals in the public-private partnership arrangement for these roadways so as to ensure technical quality in the studies for this kind of project, which are more complicated.

According to the Inter-American Development Bank, the line of credit is for $350 million with a flexible financing facility and a reimbursement period of 25 years, a grace period of five and a half years and interest rate pegged to the London interbank offered rate.

The Inter-American Development Bank was established in 1959 as a source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean.



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Do you know any other road that requires improvements in your community?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

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