The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday approved a US$300 million (about Rs.  39.5 billion) loan to improve transport connectivity of the Kakarbhitta–Laukahi road in Nepal to international trade routes, particularly to India and Bangladesh.

The project road is along the East-West Highway which forms part of the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation corridor (SASEC), the ADB informed in a statement on Wednesday. 

“Together with other regional cooperation initiatives under the SASEC framework, better infrastructure, improved connectivity, and safe road networks will boost border trade and logistics and improve the lives of rural communities,” said ADB Transport Specialist for South Asia Sin Wai Chong.  

At least 95 kilometers of road from Kakarbhitta to Laukahi will be upgraded from a two-lane to a four-lane dual roadway. It will incorporate climate- and disaster-resilient design features such as higher thermal resistant pavements and bridges with stringent flood-proofing requirement, informed the multilateral donor. 

The project is said to improve road safety through features such as junctions with traffic signals, footpaths with streetlights and tactile paving surface, overhead pedestrian crossings, road crossings with raised platform, and bus stops equipped with lighting system. 

It will build the capacity of the Department of Roads in climate- and disaster-resilient strategies, road asset management, road safety, and project management and implementation. According to the ADB, community awareness campaigns on road safety, health and hygiene, and human trafficking will also be conducted. This will be complemented with capacity building programmes for women and disadvantaged groups to improve their mobility and access to services.  

ADB will provide an additional US$750,000 (Rs. 98.8 million) technical assistance grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund to develop climate change mitigation and adaptation guidelines for road projects, bidding documents, performance indicators, and a user handbook on long-term performance-based maintenance.