Honduras Sustainable Connectivity Project

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The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve climate-resilient and safe transport access in the northwestern region of Honduras and promote sustainable livelihoods in selected areas through landscape management and women-led economic initiatives. The project components include:Component 1: Construction of the CA-4 – CA-13 Connection Road Corridor (US$158 million). The component will finance the construction of a new two-lane 46-km climate-resilient and safe road connecting the CA-4 (near Macuelizo) and the CA-13 (near Corinto), close to the Guatemalan border. The new road seeks to enhance climate-resilient access from the regions of western Honduras to the country’s main port, Puerto Cortes, on the Atlantic Coast. Currently, the only access from these regions is through the CA-4 which passes through San Pedro Sula, the most congested city in Honduras. The city is particularly vulnerable to climate events due to its location in a flat valley surrounded by mountains, exacerbating floodings especially during rainy seasons. Frequent floodings compound traffic congestion, affecting the functionality of the entire CA-4 corridor. Whenever the road system around San Pedro Sula, that concentrates the CA-4, CA-5 and CA-13, becomes hampered, the national transport system is severely affected as there are no viable alternative routes by-passing the Sula valley in San Pedro Sula to access the country’s main point of exportation. The new road will provide a reliable alternative itinerary far from San Pedro Sula and the Sula valley, less vulnerable to climate events. Climate change-exacerbated flooding is projected to cause increasing shutdowns of the existing road network in San Pedro Sula, disrupting access to markets and services; the new road is planned in part to ensuring more consistent accessibility for beneficiaries who would otherwise become isolated. The component will finance: (a) preparation of the technical social and environmental studies and detailed design, involving a climate change risk assessment that will inform project's detailed design on necessary measures to mitigate climate negative impacts; (b) cost of works; (c) technical, social, and environmental supervision; and (d) cost of resettlements including climate resilient considerations. It is estimated that the corridor will require the acquisition of approximately 185 hectares of land. Housing resettlements is expected to be limited as the alignment will not be passing near or through communities. The final design will also look at possible truck/bus rest areas and define future recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles.Component 2: Resilient improvement of feeder roads (US$14 million). The component will finance the paving of about 41 km of existing unpaved feeder roads that are directly or indirectly connected to the new corridor to improve access of the rural population in the areas where the unpaved roads often become impassable or unsafe due to increasing flooding. The civil works incorporating climate-resilient design will ensure year-round access, contributing to the Municipal Interconnection Roads Program of the GoH. With the available budget, four municipalities have been prioritized based on their proximity to the corridor. The first criterion for the selection of roads is to consider the most vulnerable to the climate in each municipality for paving. A distribution of the available resources per municipality was determined based on the following parameters: (a) the level of poverty; (b) the extent of existing roads; and (c) the potential for economic development. In each one of these municipalities, a participatory process involving civil society, and the private sector will be carried out to finalize the prioritization with a particular attention to care about women voice. Road works will involve: (a) paving dirt or gravel surfaces using calibrated paving techniques, such as double surface treatment due to traffic levels; (b) upgrading road drains and culverts to enhance flood resilience; (c) stabilizing slopes to mitigate landslide risks from rainfall; (d) constructing small bridges; and (e) implementing road safety measures, such as increasing road visibility during intense rainfall, building protected sidewalks and traffic calming measures along roads that pass-through towns.Component 3: Inclusive and integrated sustainable landscape management (US$5 million). This component will combine gender-inclusive sustainable landscape management with community-driven economic development in priority areas adjacent to the CNP (including declared micro-basins) along the new road alignment West to the CNP. These areas are considered vulnerable to droughts, wildfires, as well as hurricanes, requiring an improvement of ecological integrity and resilience. In areas adjacent to the CNP and selected declared micro-basins along the corridor, the interventions, that will involve studies, technical assistance, building capacity, training, the acquisition of goods, will cover, inter alia, the following activities: (i) the involvement of local populations in restoration, including reforestation, of degraded landscapes to enhance ecological resilience and connectivity within the network of existing protected areas and biological corridors; (ii) the promotion and adoption of sustainable value chains based on local productions that promote sustainable agroforestry and climate-smart agriculture in targeted areas; and (iii) community-based ecotourism initiatives and women’s entrepreneurship. The component will exclude interventions that can negatively impact community rights and access to natural resources or land, and any interventions within the CNP.Component 4:Institutional strengthening, capacity building, and project management (US$10 million). This component will finance consulting activities, training, and goods. - Subcomponent 4.1: Institutional capacity building (US$3 million), including: (i) strengthening the asset management capacity; (ii) promotion of gender equality in the road sector; and (iii) citizen engagement activities.- Subcomponent 4.2: Road Safety (US$2 million), including: (i) capacity assessment with review of institutional arrangements to inform the National Road Safety Strategy; (ii) development of an online integrated road safety database; (iii) safety assessment of the primary and secondary paved road network to identify high-risk locations; (iv) training and certifying road safety auditors and trainers, including women, in collaboration with academic institutions; and (v) development of a road safety engineering manual and updating of road design and construction standards, with a focus on safety.- Subcomponent 4.3: Project Management Support (US$5 million), including: (i) hiring of specialists for the Project Executing Unit (UEP, in Spanish) for the day-to-day implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the Project; (ii) hiring of a consulting firm to provide support to the UEP; and (iii) financial audits.