Hubei Shiman Highway Project

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The Hubei Shiman Highway Project aims to support socioeconomic development of Hubei province by enhancing its access to other provinces, particularly the western region of China, improving local mobility within poor, remote western parts of the province, and strengthening governance of the provincial road sector. The project has three components: (1) Highway capacity investment: The project will finance the construction of the 105.1 km Hubei section of the Shiyan Manchuangan Expressway (SME), a 106.8 km highway linking Shiyan City in northwestern Hubei province to Manchuangan in Shaanxi province. The project also includes a 6 km connecting road in the Shiyan city area, six interchanges, one monitoring center, one monitoring sub-center one service area, two rest areas, two maintenance areas, and electrical and mechanical equipment (E&M) for maintenance operations and management. E&M equipment includes toll, telecommunications, and traffic monitoring systems, and safety and fire emergency facilities in tunnels. (2) Local Road Improvement Program (the LRIP): The Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) addresses the lack of accessibility in remote, low- income areas of Hubei province. Under this program, the project will rehabilitate and upgrade a series of low-class local roads in Shiyan City. (3) Institutional strengthening, policy development, and road safety initiatives. These activities aim to strengthen capacity of the Hubei Provincial Communications Department (HPCD) to manage the provincial highway network efficiently and improve the sustainability of provincial highway sector financing. Expected improvements in the quality of roads will lead to lower transport costs throughout the province and lower life-cycle costs for road maintenance. Adopting more efficient practices for managing road will promote effective use of public funds, thereby enhancing the contribution of the highway network to economic development and its responsiveness to social needs. Finally, road traffic safety initiatives will reduce accident rates, thereby saving lives and addressing negative road impacts.