Lviv’s roads saw 5958 accidents, 47 fatalities and about a thousand injuries last year. These figures are even higher in the rest of the Ukraine. The European Investment Bank’s Eastern road safety projects will make roads safer for 3.3 million users.

Pavlo Syrvatka heads the sustainable transport department of Lvivavtodor, a municipally-owned company. He knows that less congestion means fewer accidents. With his colleagues from the municipality, he worked hard on a plan to improve traffic safety for Lviv’s citizens by channelling traffic on intersections and arterial roads to relieve bottlenecks. Other cities in Ukraine plan similar improvements in road design and reduced speed zones. All these road safety works cost EUR 177 million.

"If you can pleasantly—and safely—walk or cycle a kilometre, you may not want to take the car,” says Syrvatka.

Credit: Maxym Hnyp

The European Investment Bank plans to back the plans with a EUR 75 million framework loan. “It is a first of its kind project, the largest in road safety in the Eastern countries,” says Henry Möykkynen, the EIB investment officer working on this operation, which is also covered by an EU guarantee.

Ambitious Eastern road safety

In Lviv, Syrvatka’s company plans to:

• build 120 km of cycle tracks and three cycling bridges over railway lines
• rearrange circular crossings (e.g. roundabouts) and 42 accident-prone sites
• install 20 new traffic lights that will work in the "green wave" mode, which means that a string of traffic lights turn green in sequence
• install electronic displays and timetables at public transport stops
• reduce transit traffic through residential areas and yards
• introduce a small transport ring around the city centre
• set up new pedestrian zones
• arrange parking.

Such measures should reduce the number of road deaths and injuries in Lviv by 20%. Works will start in 2018 and finish in 2022.

“I have two kids, and like all parents, I am very concerned about their safety and security. I don’t want to lose them because of dangerous streets. Lviv’s mobility has already improved a lot in the past years, but thanks to the EIB our children will be safer and more lives can be saved," says Lilija Lysenko, a TV journalist and Chief Editor of "Parents Channel"

Eastern road safety best practice model

Local administrations in Ukraine have limited knowledge of road safety investments and design considerations. The EIB technical assistance package will support them to ensure project quality and the use of international best practice in project preparation and implementation.

“We will help cities to introduce and apply new road standards, as well as manage the so called black spots,” says Möykkynen.

Credit: Alexander Shutyuk

As the severity of accidents directly depends on traffic speed limits, a special focus will be raising awareness among citizens. The aim is to avoid needless crashes, untold suffering and associated social and economic costs.

In this way, the EIB-backed project will also reduce the indirect financial costs associated with poor road safety and will positively affect economic development of regions.

“This is in line with the country’s transport policy and in particular with the road safety strategy in Ukraine up to 2020,” says Maya Koshman, director of International Cooperation at Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure. The Ministry is promoting the investments in urban road safety and acts as a co-ordinator for the whole project.

The video, produced by Egis International and PROVID in cooperation with Ministry of Infrastructure in Ukraine, is an output of a  technical assistance project, fully managed by the EIB and financed by the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Fund.

Eastern road safety role for the EIB

Ukraine’s neighbours, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Moldova, have fatality rates three times the EU average. As the EU bank, the EIB has invested EUR 2.5 billion in the region in the past ten years to improve transport infrastructure.

The Bank promotes EU policy and directives on road safety. It applies the principles of these directives as best practice outside the EU and asks its clients to follow these approaches and recommendations on a project during design, implementation and after completion.

Neighborhood finance for Eastern road safety

Last year in Georgia, the EIB mobilized EUR 500 million to improve the quality and safety of 250 km of selected priority roads between Europe and Asia. The recommendations and safety measures as a result of a road safety audit will be financed by the EIB.

created with Piktochart

Working with donor partners, the Bank also mobilizes grant resources for advisory services and blending activities. The EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility provides grants to finance investments, risk capital, guarantees and technical assistance. The Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Fund provides grants to assess and prepare projects.

In Armenia, a road infrastructure project with blended finance combining a NIF grant for both investment and technical assistance will back road safety measures on the Armenian regional, republican and interstate road networks.