Uzbekistan is a landlocked country providing a key transit point for Central Asian countries looking to trade among themselves as well as the rest of Asia and Europe. As with other landlocked developing countries, it has faced several challenges in connectivity, logistics, and access to sustainable modes of transport. While adequate, its road network, until a few years ago, suffered from a backlog of rehabilitation work that led to pavement deterioration in about 60% of its public roads. As a result, transport cost was high, travel time was long, and the ride was often unsafe and uncomfortable. The need to address these challenges was made more pressing by the continued rise in road traffic since the late 1990s.
In response, Uzbekistan adopted a National Road Development Program for 2009–2014 that called for, among other things, investments in the reconstruction of existing road networks, and some greenfield projects. Building on the Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy and Action Plan of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program that focuses on developing six transport corridors, it prioritized the reconstruction of A380 highway that comprises the Uzbekistan section of CAREC corridor 2 and would later connect to corridor 6. It subsequently requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to finance an investment program that would reconstruct 222 kilometers of the highway and ensure its sustainability through improved planning, logistics, road asset management, and community facilities. ADB committed to finance Uzbekistan’s CAREC Corridor 2 Investment Program through a $600 million multitranche financing facility (MFF) that became effective in March 2010 and was provided in three tranches.
Tranche 2 covered the reconstruction of 85 kilometers of the A380 highway. What used to be a two-lane road was converted to a four-lane divided highway with cement concrete pavement. Eight sets of equipment for the construction of bored piles for bridge foundations were also procured. Successful delivery of the planned outputs resulted in better connectivity and an efficient transport system along A380 highway. Travel time was reduced, road accidents declined, and average total long-haul traffic volume increased, all beyond targets. Increases in the gross domestic product (GDP) of the project sites as well as in external trade with Kazakhstan also exceeded targets.
Implementation period however doubled: actual completion was on 31 December 2016, three years after the projected date at appraisal. Underlying reasons included delayed awarding of civil works and goods contracts, change in contractors, bidding process weaknesses, and mobilization delays. Nevertheless, because of the lower-than-estimated actual costs of the civil works contract and construction supervision consulting services, the actual project total cost was 24% lower than the $289 million estimate at appraisal. $218.57 million of the approved ADB loan of $240 million was used up, and the unutilized loan balance was cancelled.
The Republican Road Fund under the Ministry of Finance served as executing agency. A program management unit was established to coordinate the implementation of all the projects under Uzbekistan’s CAREC Corridor 2 Road Investment Program was coordinated by .
