According to the Bank’s website, the project will finance the rehabilitation of small road schemes vulnerable to climate change impacts included in the Polish National Road Strengthening Programme until 2030.

While the primary objective of the national programme is an enhancement of pavement bearing capacity, the schemes included in this project are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, as previously established through a climate change risk vulnerability assessment of the Polish road network. Most of such schemes will include appropriate climate change adaptation measures.

According to the Environmental and Social Data Sheet:

The environmental assessment shows that the most common negative impacts are expected during the construction phase. These include: noise, dust, surface water pollution, cutting of trees and disturbance of animal migration. Negative impacts will be minimized by replanting of greenery and trees, improved passages for animals, installing of rainwater treatment devices and retention reservoirs. Noise assessments were carried out for the majority of schemes and revealed noise levels in excess of legal limits in some schemes. Negative noise impacts will be mitigated by installing acoustic screens and applying noise reducing surface coating.

Road alignment of all List A schemes follow the alignment of existing national roads. In seven cases, the road alignment intersects with NATURA 2000 sites, but in none of these cases, the Competent Authority has identified significant negative impacts on the conservation objectives of a designated site.

Compliance of List B schemes with the EIA, Birds and Habitats Directives will be checked before allocation to a particular scheme. In the Finance Agreement, the Bank will include an undertaking for the Promoter to confirm that individual sub-projects do not significantly impact nature conservation areas, or that impacts are sufficiently mitigated, to be ascertained through the required applicable appropriate assessment and providing the Competent Authority’s agreement.

On the basis of the information provided to the Bank at this stage, the potential schemes are not likely to have significant negative social impacts, although some limited land expropriation may be necessary in places where road re-alignment and interchanges upgrades are foreseen. When designing the sub-projects, the intervention will be kept as much as possible to the existing right of way, which reduces potential impacts to a minimum.

The General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) is the central authority of national administration set up to manage the national roads and implementation of the state budget in Poland. The GDDKiA was established on 1 April 2002 by the Polish Ministry of Transportation.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

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