The (northern) East-West Link (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Oost-Westverbinding'') is a road in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

between Albina in the eastern part of the country to

Nieuw Nickerie Nieuw Nickerie. Retrieved 17 November 2009. is the third largest city in Suriname with a population estimated at . It is the capital city of the Nickerie district, and the terminus of the East-West Link. Nieuw Nickerie lies on the mouth of the N ...

in the western part, via the capital city of

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

. The southern East-West Link connects Paramaribo with

Apoera Apoera, also Apura, is a town in western Suriname. The village has a population of 777 people as of 2020. It is the final destination of the Southern East-West Link. north-west on the other side of the Courantyne River lies the Guyanese village ...

via

Bitagron Witagron (or Bitagron) is a Kwinti village in Suriname on the Coppename River at the crossing of the Southern East-West Link from Paramaribo to Apoera in West-Suriname. In the local language ''Bitagron'' means 'Land of my forefathers'. Witagron ...

. Construction of the road link started in the 1960s.

Overview

Bridges

In recent years, various ferries on the East-West Link route have been replaced with bridges. There is a bridge near Groot Henar spanning the

Nickerie River The Nickerie River is a river in the northwestern part of Suriname. The river originates in the Bakhuis Mountains and then flows to the North where it forms part of the border between the Coronie and Nickerie districts. The river then turns West ...

. In 1980, a bridge was built on the

Commewijne River Commewijne River (Sranan Tongo: ''Kawina-liba'') is a river in northern Suriname. It originates in the hills of the Commewijne District and flows northwards until it receives the meandering Cottica River from the right and then runs westward unti ...

near

Stolkertsijver Stolkertsijver is a town in the Commewijne District of Suriname. It is situated on the East-West Link. At Stolkertsijver, a bridge spanning the Commewijne River was built in 1970s. The village was named after the Stolkertsijver plantation, also ...

. Since 1999, the

Coppename Bridge The Coppename Bridge (Dutch: ''Coppenamebrug'') is a bridge over the Coppename River in Suriname, part of the East-West Link. The bridge links Jenny in the Coronie District with Boskamp in the Saramacca District. It was opened in 1999, a year b ...

connects

Jenny Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...

with Boskamp, and since 2000 the

Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge The Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge (Dutch: ''Jules Wijdenboschbrug''), also called Suriname bridge and known locally as Bosje Brug, is a bridge over the Suriname River between the capital city Paramaribo and Meerzorg in the Commewijne District. The bri ...

connects

with

Meerzorg Meerzorg (Sranan Tongo: Ansu) is a town and resort (municipality) in Suriname, located on the eastern bank of the Suriname River, directly opposite the capital Paramaribo. Its population at the 2012 census was 12,405. Since 2000 it has been connect ...

. On the southern East-West Link,

bailey bridge A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. A ...

s spanning the

Coppename River The Coppename is a river in Suriname (South America) in the district of Sipaliwini, forming part of the boundary between the districts of Coronie and Saramacca. Course The Coppename river begins in the Wilhelmina Mountains. Its tributaries are ...

and Nickerie River were built near

and Kamp 52 respectively. The bridge spanning the

Saramacca River Saramacca River is a river in Suriname. The Arawaks named this river "Surama", and today's name "Saramacca" is probably derived from it. It originates in the Wilhelmina Mountains and flows northwards and enters the Atlantic Ocean together with th ...

between

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Uitkijk Uitkijk is a village in the resort of Kampong Baroe in the Saramacca District of Suriname. The village is located on the Saramacca River. History The village started as a wood plantation, In 1778, a military outpost was established at Uitkijk, be ...

was opened on 25 June 2011.

Reconstruction

The road is in a bad state on several parts of the route, partly due to damage because of the

Suriname Guerrilla War The Surinamese Interior War ( nl, Binnenlandse Oorlog) was a civil war waged in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname between 1986 and 1992. It was fought by the Tucayana Amazonas led by Thomas Sabajo and the Jungle Commando led by Ronnie Brunswij ...

. Various revitalization projects have been started.

Western East-West Link

A 32-kilometre-long section between

and the ferry near South Drain was not paved until recently. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

funded the reconstruction, which started in 2007, with 13.2 million euro. The section was due to be completed in the first quarter of 2010. There is a

jeep trail Jeep trail is a term originating in the United States to designate unpaved roads designed and maintained for use solely by high-clearance four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicles, regardless of the vehicle manufacturer. Only the more difficult unpaved roads ...

between South Drain and Apoera, connecting the Northern East-West Link with the Southern East-West Link. Contrary to earlier plans, the pavement of this road is not imminent.

Eastern East-West Link

The eastern part of the East-West Link, that is the section between

and Albina, is being repaved with funds from the European Union, the

Agence française de développement The French Development Agency (french: Agence française de développement, AFD) is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development. This pub ...

and the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...

. In August 2009, a Project Executing Unit (PEU) was installed, whose task it is to safeguard quality guidelines, project planning, and the total budget of

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

140 million. The project entails a total section of 138 kilometres and the rehabilitation is planned to be finished in 30 months’ time. The reconstruction will adhere to the standards of the

Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America The Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA) is a development plan to link South America's economies through new transportation, energy, and telecommunications projects. IIRSA investments are expected t ...

(IIRSA). In March 2010, the Dutch company MNO Vervat was to begin repaving the road between

Tamanredjo Tamanredjo ( Javanese : ꦠꦩꦤꦽꦗ lit. meaning : Prosperous Garden Village) is a resort and town in Suriname, located in the Commewijne District. Its population at the 2012 census was 6,601. Tamanredjo was founded in 1937 as village for ...

(km 20,5) and

Moengo Moengo () is a town in Suriname, located in the Marowijne district, between Paramaribo and the border town Albina on the Cottica River. Moengo is also a resort (municipality) in the district of Marowijne. Moengo was the capital of Marowijne Distr ...

(km 95). The section between Moengo and Albina (km 138) will be repaved by the Chinese company Dalian. The tender for the section between Meerzorg (km 0) and Tamanredjo will be put out in 2011. The road will be widened in several places and cycling lanes will be added in built-up areas.

Southern East-West Link

Suriname aims for reconstructing the Southern East-West Link (Paramaribo-Zanderij-Bitagron-Apoera) between 2010 and 2015.Stichting Planbureau Suriname
Moengo – Albina Knooppunten van de Pan-American Highway
/ref> In the IIRSA project, this road is part of Group 3 of the Guyana Shield Hub region, which links

Ciudad Guayana Ciudad Guayana () (in English Guayana City) is a city in Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State, Venezuela. It stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco, Orinoco river, at the point where it is joined by its main tributary ...

in Venezuela via San Martín de Turumbang, Linden and

with

. The project includes the building of a bridge on the

Courantyne River The Courantyne/Corentyne/Corantijn River is a river in northern South America in Suriname and Guyana. It is the longest river in the country and creates the border between Suriname and the East Berbice-Corentyne region of Guyana. Its tributarie ...

between

and

Orealla Orealla (or Orealla Mission) is an Indigenous community in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region of Guyana, on the Courantyne River, approximately south of Crabwood Creek and north of Epira, located at , altitude 11 metres. south-east on the o ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. According to a study by Pitou van Dijk, the Linden-Paramaribo section has only secondary priority with IIRSA at the moment.

Connections with neighbouring countries

The East-West Link has a ferry connection with

on the western side since 1998, connecting South Drain with

Moleson Creek Moleson Creek is a community on the Corentyne River in the East Berbice-Corentyne region of Guyana, and home to the Guyana-Suriname ferry stelling. It is north of Orealla Mission, south of Corriverton Corriverton is the most easterly town in ...

. In the east there has been a ferry between Albina and

Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (; gcr, Senloran di Maronni) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is one of the three sub-prefectures of French Guiana and the seat ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

since 1969. Within the framework of the IIRSA, the Suriname Planning Bureau has done some studies on the incorporation of the East-West Link in the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

. Suriname has been part of the Pan-American Highway project since 1982. Apart from the reconstruction of the East West Link as described above, a feasibility study has been started for a bridge between Suriname and French Guiana.Indianfeelings.nl
Fusie Suriname en Franks Guyana?
/ref> Also a North-South Link connecting Suriname with Brazil via the

Vier Gebroeders Vier Gebroeders (English: ''Four Brothers'') or Mamija is a Tiriyó village in the Coeroeni resort of the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. Vier Gebroeders is close to the Brazilian border. The village is not named after four brothers, but after t ...

mountains is being considered.

References

Transport infrastructure in Suriname Roads in Suriname