A54 MOTORWAY PALAS DE REI-ARZUA

The project concerns a 28.1 km long section of the A54 motorway that will complete the corridor between two regional capitals - Santiago de Compostela and Lugo. The new section, between the junctions Palas de Rey and Arzúa, will connect the capital of the Autonomous Region of Galicia, in North-West Spain, with the radial high capacity road network and the centre of the country.

The new dual carriageway is part of the strategic Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) EU programme, which aims at strengthening the social, economic and territorial cohesion of the Union and contributing to the creation of a single European transport area. This project is a major allocation under the Framework Loan Fomento Road Renewal and Rehabilitation.

The new A54 dual carriageway is included in the infrastructure and transport plan currently in force in the country (Plan de Infraestructuras, Transporte y Vivienda, PITVI 2012-2024), which was subject to strategic environmental assessment in compliance with the EU SEA Directive 2001/142. The Competent Authority provided the environmental consent in December 2014. The proposed project falls under Annex I of EIA Directive 2011/92/EU, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU, requiring a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The entire A54 corridor was subject to one main EIA procedure resulting in a first Environmental Decision in November 2004, which requested that further assessment be conducted for the specific project section Palas de Rey - Arzúa. A new EIA for the project section, including additional public consultation, was carried out. On these new grounds, the Competent Authority granted the environmental consent in November 2010. The project alignment falls mainly within agricultural and forest land, sparsely populated. The new motorway section crosses the Natura 2000 site Serra do Careón (ES1110014) and a number of natural habitats of Community importance. As part of the EIA process, the project has been subject to an Appropriate Assessment under Art 6.3 of the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC, as amended). Compliance with this directive and with the Birds Directive (2009/147/EC) will be verified at appraisal. The area of influence of the project hosts a rich cultural and archaeological heritage, including a section of the Route of Santiago de Compostela, protected under the UNESCO World Heritage List. The procedures and outcomes of the environmental assessments are to be further reviewed during appraisal.

The Bank will require the promoter to ensure that contracts for the implementation of the project have been and will be tendered in accordance with the relevant applicable EU procurement legislation, Directives 2004/18/EC and 2014/24/EU, depending on the date of publication, as well as Directive 89/665/EEC, as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), as and where required. Two tender notices for the construction contracts Melide – Palas de Rey (2016/S 053-088226) and Melide – Arzúa (2016/S 053-088190) were published in the OJEU on 16 March 2016. Procurement notices for supervision contracts were also published in the OJEU for both project sections (references 2016/S 108-193562 dated on 7 June 2016 and 2016/S 121-217003 dated on 25 June 2016, respectively).