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Morocco’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry has plans in hand to expand the country’s road network in a bid to boost the economy. Safety improvements will also ensure that the road network is safer, with Morocco instituting new road safety policies. Estimates suggest that up to 45,000km of roads and as well as 208 bridges will be required to provide access to the country’s rural areas. Extending the road network would cost up to US$5.8 billion, according to a study carried out for the Transport and Infr

Some US$189.2 million is being budgeted by the authorities for 2013 in the Irkutsk Region of Siberia for road repairs and maintenance, as well as new construction. This represents an increase of 12% from the 2012 budget. Key improvements include replacing gravel on federal highways and also building bypasses around some of the major urban areas in the region.

The Gulf region has bridge and road projects valued at US$121.3 billion in the planning stage or already on going. In Bahrain, there is $2 billion worth of road and bridge projects underway in various phases, and another $8 billion in Oman. In Kuwait, the government will be spending $9 billion for road projects in the coming two years, while road projects valued at $17 billion are said to be in ‘cruise control’ in Qatar as the country prepares for the 2022 football World Cup. Around $26.9 billion has been

A highway project looks set to face extended delays in its construction due to the discovery of contaminated land. A two year highway project planned in the canton Valais will now take considerably longer to complete due to the unexpected discovery of mercury contamination on the site. The contamination is historic and appears to be the result of disposal carried out by a local chemicals firm in the 1930s, when there were few controls over what could be dumped. The company had tipped its chemical waste into

Indonesia’s Government is setting a US$20 billion budget for transport and energy sector development. The Indonesian Government plans to build 559km of new roads as part of a new transport infrastructure programme. Indonesia’s capital Jakarta faces a growing problem due to severe traffic congestion, which is particularly intense at peak periods. Increasing vehicle numbers in the city mean that the existing traffic problem is fast getting worse. The authorities are looking at policies to address the issue.

Around 10,000km of Russia’s roads will be repaired annually from 2014 according to the country’s Federal Highway Agency. The federal road network would fully meet quality requirements in Russia by late 2017. Currently, Russian authorities repair 6,600km per annum, around 1.5 times less than required. Only about 39% of the road network is said to be in a satisfactory condition.

New Zealand’s Transport Ministry has announced plans for a US$10.3 billion program to improve public transport and roads. Under the three-year plan, authorities for the public transport system, state highways and local roads will receive $1.36 billion, $4.09 billion and $3.29 billion, respectively, for upgrades.