The Automobile Club of Uruguay (ACU) has partnered with United Paper Mills (UPM) to ensure safe journeys to school in Uruguay.

UPM is planning the construction of a nursery, in which seedlings will be sown and grown, for planting in areas defined by the environmental planning processes and to supply its pulp mills, located in Pueblo Centenario and Fray Bentos.

The nursery, located approximately 9 km from Sarandí del Yi, is an essential industrial development, requiring the continuous transport of inputs and seedlings to and from the planting sites, through companies who specialise in forest loading and transport.

To support the development, ACU has undertaken assessments of 4 school zones that comprise 6 schools to understand travel risk and inform safety improvements in roads impacted by the new transport routes. A trained team of ACU has engaged school communities to select schools and locations for assessment and has undertaken the assessments with support of iRAP. This data generated pedestrian Star Ratings and guided identification of priorities and scenarios of countermeasures.

The results and recommendations for safety improvements will be presented to UPM management and will inform UPM’s health and safety programme and works planning. It is expected that upgrades will be implemented in March 2021. The project has been sponsored by UPM.

Image credit above: ACU

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