Northern Link Road Could Bring Tolls

Three global firms bid to advise on 30km PPP scheme as tender terms require toll-road experience

Bahrain’s planned 30km Northern Link Road could bring road tolls into play for the first time, with firms bidding to advise on the scheme required to show past work on highways or bridges funded by toll income.

Three global consultancy firms are in the running for the Ministry of Works contract, which will help shape one of Bahrain’s biggest road projects in the years ahead.

KPMG Advisory bid BD3.887 million, EY Consulting BD2.255m and PricewaterhouseCoopers Bahrain BD1.923m, according to tenders opened by the Tender Board.

All three bids were accepted for review.

The tender papers do not say drivers will have to pay to use the new road. But they do make toll-road experience a key test for firms seeking the financial, technical and legal advisory work.

Each financial and technical adviser must show work on at least one major highway or bridge PPP scheme involving toll revenue.

The legal adviser must meet the same test and must also have worked on at least one road project involving the drafting of laws or rules for road works.

That leaves toll funding among the models likely to be studied as the government weighs how the Northern Link Road should be built, paid for and run.

The Ministry of Works wants a transaction adviser to carry out studies, draw up the financial and legal structure and help steer the scheme through bidding and financial close.

The consultancy contract will run for 24 months.

Financial advisers must have acted for government bodies on at least three completed international public-private partnership projects in the past 15 years. Each must have cost at least $250m and reached financial close.

At least one must have been a major highway or bridge scheme involving toll revenue. The firm must also have had average annual turnover of at least $100m over the past three years.

Technical advisers face much the same test, with three international PPP schemes worth at least $250m each required, including one highway or bridge project using toll income.

Legal advisers must also show work on at least three PPP schemes worth at least $250m each over the past 15 years. Their average annual turnover must be at least $25m.

The Northern Link Road is planned as an east-west route running for about 30km, parallel to Sheikh Isa bin Salman Highway.

Past government statements have described it as a main route for cars and freight moving between Khalifa Bin Salman Port and Saudi Arabia.

It is also planned as part of a ring-road network linking towns and new development areas across northern Bahrain, including the site of a future airport.

The road is expected to cater for large housing and property schemes along the northern coast, among them Nurana, Marassi Al Seef and North Star.

Those projects are expected to house more than 600,000 people.

Earlier plans for the road included about 14 sea bridges and 10 multi-level junctions, along with links aimed at easing access to Seef District and villages along Budaiya Highway.