Third Highway Project

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The development objective of the Third Highway Project for is Azerbaijan is to contribute to a more efficient and safer Baku-Shamakhi road and higher quality road services as part of the upgrading to motorway standards, and to improve the management of the nascent motorway network. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is motorway improvement - upgrading a 100km section of the existing two lane M4 Baku-Shamakhi road into four-lane motorway and related road safety activities. This component comprises civil works for the Baku-Shamakhi road and consultancy services for works supervision. It also finances road safety activities to be implemented throughout the project duration including design, construction, and opening of new four-lane road. Government will finance land acquisition and resettlement costs. The component also includes consultancies for technical audit of works and design of priority investments of the main road network. The second component of the project is institutional development. This component including: (a) preparation of a study to explore options for a policy on management and financing and efficient allocation of resources for Azerbaijan's motorways; and (b) institutional development of the Azerbaijan Road Service (ARS) in motorway operation and maintenance by: (i) establishing motorway guidelines; (ii) testing a small experimental motorway management unit at ARS; and (iii) carrying out an operations and maintenance pilot on sections of the existing motorways. The third component of the project is project management. The project will finance consultant services, equipment and Technical Assistance (TA) to support project management capacity of the Project Implementation Unit (PIU), including office equipment, software, training (especially financial management), seminars, and financial management TA, and project financial audits.