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Construction work on Colombia’s two key tunnel projects is being delayed, with insufficient funding proving a major challenge. Both the Toyo Tunnel and La Linea Tunnel projects are behind schedule. In addition, the project to construct the Pumajero Bridge is also being delayed due to a lack of funds.Part of the problems is that the designs for these projects have been revised as construction work has progressed. However the additional funds to pay for the new design features added have not been fully

The Vietnamese Government has given the go-ahead for work on a key section of the country’s North-South highway project. This 7.5km stretch of the route will run between District 2's National Highway 22 and Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park. The work will cost US$365.4 million to carry out as it includes building the Phuoc Kieng, No 1, Rach Dia and Ba Chiem bridges. Located just to the south of Ho Chi Minh City, the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park is in a delta area, which will require the construction of the bridge se

A new highway interchange project will improve traffic flow in Abidjan, the economic centre for Côte d'Ivoire. The interchange will be constructed at the Akwaba intersection near the city’s Félix Houphouët-Boigny international airport. The Côte d'Ivoire Government has agreed a financing package with the World Bank (WB). This will be used for the Greater Abidjan Port-City Integration Project. The financing package will be worth close to US$300 million. In all, some $382.6 million will be needed to deliver

A slow improvement is being seen on Europe’s roads in terms of safety. In 2017, 25,250 people were killed in road crashes in the EU. This represents a 2% reduction from the road death rate for the EU in 2016. However there is concern that progress with road safety is too slow as the road death rate for the EU has fallen by only 3% in the last four years. Of the 32 countries monitored by the PIN Programme, 22 reduced road deaths in 2017 . The best results were achieved by Estonia with a 32% decrease

Belgium is benefiting from a much-needed gain in road safety. The country has had the worst record for road safety of any Western European nation for some years but now appears to be addressing the issue with positive results being achieved. Road deaths for the first six months of 2018 dropped by 14% to 191 compared with 221 for the same period in the previous year. The number of injuries arising from road crashes dropped 1.7% to 23,458 for the first six months of 2018, compared with 23,865 for the same

Driving too fast is a leading cause of road fatalities, according to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Region I. Data from the FIA says that an estimated 40%-50% of people drive over the speed limit while a 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% decrease in number of fatal crashes. FIA Region I and its members in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are launching a campaign ‘Slowing Down Saves Lives’ and are urging drivers to respect speed limits. In support of the campaign, FI

This time next year Austria will be the first European country to have vehicles that collect safety‐relevant traffic information in real‐time. “We’re going for it,” Marko Jandrisits, the telematics services programme manager for Austria’s publicly own road and toll company ASFiNAG, said the tender for equipping the Austrian motorway network with the hardware and software for C-ITS – cooperative ITS - had just been launched. “The future is here,” said Jandrisit on the stand of AustriaTech at the ITS W

Bulgaria is seeing an improvement in its latest road safety statistics. In 2017 there were 6,888 crashes on Bulgaria’s road network, a drop of 7% from the previous year. Meanwhile 6,800 people were injured in road crashes in Bulgaria in 2017 while there were 682 road related fatalities in the same period. The improved road safety presents a notable and positive change for Bulgaria. However the country still had the second highest rate of road fatalities/head of population of any country in the EU.

Work is well underway on a major road project in Argentina. Construction of National Road 19 is on schedule, with 30% of the necessary work having been carried out so far. The project is costing US$164.8 million and the highway will stretch 155km between San Francisco and Rio Primero.