The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a total of $895m in loan money to the Brazilian city Sao Paulo for the 182km beltway project.

The Rodoanel Oeste section forms the western segment of the total beltway, which will surround the city once finished.

The project is expected to better distribute traffic flows across the city’s metropolitan region.

The project is also expected to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, with the Rodoanel Oeste section alone expected to cut over 1 million tons of CO2 emissions per year.

The first tranche $150m A loan will be financed by the bank’s own resources, while the remaining two B loan tranches of $350m and $395m will be provided by commercial banks.