The importance of rural link roads. The project was able to deliver benefits to the project area through the inclusion of both the provincial highway upgrade and the rural link roads in the project design. The socioeconomic benefits of these roads were very important, allowing all-weather access to jobs and services (health care, transport). Local tourists use the rural roads to travel to scenic areas, a further source of economic development as well as of support for maintaining the environment. The HPDT advised that it is frequently difficult to gain funding for rural roads because they are of lower priority than the expressways and highways, and ADB support for these projects provided valuable social impacts.
Heilongjiang Road Network Development Project