EIB and APRR sign EUR 75 million contract to improve traffic flows and safety on APRR’s motorway network

Improving traffic flows and safety on motorways while reinforcing environmental protection, this is the aim of the EUR 75 million finance contract signed on Thursday 21 March 2013 in Dijon by Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Philippe Nourry, Chairman and CEO of APRR (Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône), and Max Roche, Deputy CEO of the Eiffage Group. This loan follows a first EUR 75 million instalment signed in November 2012, bringing total EIB financing of this project to EUR 150 million.

The loan will enable APRR to press ahead with its comprehensive network upgrading programme aimed at increasing road safety and protecting the environment at the heart of traffic flows between the Benelux countries, Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy. This will especially involve speeding up the deployment of non-stop toll systems and widening motorway sections in slow areas to improve traffic flows.

At a time when the EIB is stepping up its support for job-creating projects thanks to the increase in its capital, this long-term loan on favourable terms based on the EIB’s triple A rating will make it possible to optimise the project’s overall financing plan.

This project is located on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), which forms part of the efforts to create a sustainable and efficient European infrastructure grid. Developing this network is an EIB priority.