Anhui Highway Rehabilitation and Improvement Project

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The Anhui Highway Rehabilitation and Improvement Project for China aims to increase the effective use of the road infrastructure in the Anhui Province to support its social and economic development, as evidenced by the increase in the flows of passenger and freight traffic along key corridors across the province at lower costs and with improved safety. The project will include the following components: (i) road rehabilitation will support the provincial rehabilitation and maintenance program from 2007-2010 under the Eleventh Five Year Program (EFYP). The Bank contribution will help finance eligible investments under the rehabilitation component of the program. A list of 18 segments to be rehabilitated, for about 890 km, has been evaluated and found acceptable in the context of the province-wide program of the road network rehabilitation; (ii) road improvement or upgrading of about 320 km of key provincial and national roads located on the Central-Eastern and Southeastern areas of the Province. These improvements or upgrades will include in some cases the duplication of existing roads following the same alignment with specific bypasses in built-up areas (in order to minimize resettlement actions) or with short segments of new alignments if necessary to avoid difficult topographical conditions; (iii) road maintenance by contract Anhui Provincial Communications Department (APCD) will implement maintenance by contract approach in at least two highway segments of the provincial highway network for a cumulative number of 120 kilometers by the end of the project; and (iv) institutional strengthening program includes the provision of improved tools for road management (technical, environmental, and economic) and a training program.