The objectives of the Road Sector Development Program and Fourth Adaptable Program Loan Project for Ethiopia are to assist the Government in strengthening and increasing its road transport infrastructure and its reliability, and strengthening the institutional efficiency in road sector management. Three are three components to the project. The first component of the project is upgrading of federal link roads and related supervision services. This component comprises upgrading of two link roads from an existing gravel surface to asphalt surface, and one from an existing earth road to asphalt surface road as follows: (i) upgrading of Mekenajo-Dembi Dolo Link road sub-project (181 km asphalt concrete); (ii) upgrading of Welkite-Hosaina Link road sub-project (121 km asphalt concrete); (iii) upgrading of Ankober-Awash Arba Link road sub-project (89 km asphalt surface treatment); and (iv) construction supervision of these three roads including implementing the associated environmental, safety, and resettlement plans and mitigation of adverse social impacts, as well as sectional design review of Ankober-Awash Arba road. The second component of the project is Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) modernization/sector capacity building. This component various institutional strengthening/reform and capacity building activities will be undertaken, comprising: (i) preparatory study toward establishing a highway engineering research center: and (ii) technical advisory services (TA) to prepare and conduct Harmonized 'comprehensive capacity building'. ERA staff training will also be included. The third component of the project is network management studies. This component will be conducted comprising: (i) maintenance needs assessment and updating of road financing study; (ii) transport and poverty observatories (TPOs); and (iii) preparatory studies for the next phase of Road Sector Development Program (RSDP) and the Universal Rural Access Roads Program (URAP).
