IDB funds Bolivia road works

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is to loan US$ 122 million to Bolivia to carry out improvement works on a 69.7 km stretch of its East-West Corridor.

The works will see the Montero-Yapacani segment of the Santa Cruz-Cochabamba highway expanded and upgraded to a four-lane road.

The East-West Corridor is Bolivia's most heavily travelled road and carries the bulk of the country’s freight. It links the country's most important cities with Chile and Peru to the west, and with Brazil to the east. The highway currently handles more than 9,000 vehicles daily, 20% of which are trucks transporting agricultural goods.

The project will include civil works, road safety, technical and environmental supervision, social viability and project administration. As well as building the four-lane highway, the development will also include the construction of bypasses around more densely populated municipalities. Work is expected to be completed by 2017.