The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced a €350m loan for the improvement of the A9 highway near Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The project aims to reduce traffic congestion on the Schiphol-Amsterdam-Almere (SAA) corridor and is aided by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, which is part of the Investment Plan for Europe.

Under the SAA project, 65km of motorway on sections of the A9, A1 / A6 and A6 motorways will be upgraded.

Work to upgrade the section of the A9 highway between Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht (A9 BaHo) will begin next year.

It will include the widening of an 11km stretch of the section from three lanes to four. Bridges over ten river crossings will also receive upgrades.

Sound barriers will be installed on the road section to reduce traffic disturbance for local residents. In addition, a 1.3km stretch of the road will be lowered below ground level.

These measures are expected to decrease the highway’s visual impact and noise, while also increasing connectivity for nearby communities.

The SAA project is structured as a 14-year design-build-finance-maintain (DBFM), availability-based, public-private partnership (PPP) concession.

Last month, EIB approved a €450m loan to support the rehabilitation of the Ukrainian road network.

In May, EIB granted a loan of €73.5m to Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) for the acquisition of 254 zero-emission buses.

TMB used the funds to buy 116 new electric buses, 63 hybrids and 75 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses.