The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved €250m ($348.7m) to finance road works in Belgium’s Walloon region.

The loan will be used to rehabilitate and upgrade roads, motorways and bridges on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), and in convergence areas of the region’s infrastructure network.

The Trans-European Transport Networks are a planned set of road, rail, air and water transport networks designed to serve the entire continent of Europe.

The project also includes safety and user service improvements including enlargement of HGV parking areas, construction of slip roads and roundabouts, and environmental measures such as noise barriers and upgrading of stormwater basins.

The Walloon region’s network comprises 7,800km of regional roads, 1,250km of motorways, 6,550km of trunk roads, 700km of provincial roads and 45,000km of municipal roads.

To obtain the loan, Belgium carried out a series of reforms designed to meet the EIB’s eligibility requirements, which include defining Wallonia’s infrastructure network, and establishing a roads plan for the rehabilitation of the entire road network.

Also, clarifying the responsibilities of Société Wallonne de Financement Complémentaire des Infrastructures SOFICO and the Roads Directorate of SPW (Public Service of the Walloon Region).

A single operator, SOFICO is in charge of the infrastructure network and responsible for financing, repairing, maintaining and operating roads, equipment and surroundings, while the roads directorate concentrates on the secondary network.