4 Colombian mayors lay out their infrastructure plans

The mayors of Colombian cities Bogotá, Cali, Barranquilla and Medellín presented infrastructure plans for their 2020-24 terms during the annual congress of the country’s infrastructure chamber CCI.

BOGOTÁ

Mayor Claudia López emphasized that her administration would focus on improving transportation by expanding the city’s metro system, on which work began on the first line last month.

“This Thursday we will announce the next phase of the Bogotá metro alongside the national government,” López said.

The city government aims to expand the first line to the districts of Suba and Engativá, which would benefit 2.5mn residents. 

Meanwhile, prefeasibility studies are ongoing for a new cable car for the San Cristóbal district, while authorities plan two more leading to Carrera Séptima avenue.

And two new light rail (Regiotram) lines are currently in the prefeasibility study stage, and would join the western Regiotram, currently under construction.

The four-year development plan approved in June, which also includes road improvements, entails a total of 53tn pesos (US$15bn).

So far, López said, resources are secured for the western Regiotram, the first metro line, the north access PPP, the ALO Sur PPP, the green corridor on Carrera Séptima and the Transmilenio corridors of Ciudad de Cali and Avenida 68 avenues.

CALI

Mayor José Iván Ospina said the city’s four-year development plan is focused on economic reactivation, as Cali has lost 320,000 job positions as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Some of the main projects in the plan include a 150bn-peso solar farm and a 60bn-peso initiative to boost recycling and solid waste reutilization.

In terms of infrastructure, the biggest project Ospina’s administration is working on is a 6tn-peso commuter rail line that would connect Cali with Yumbo, Jamundí and Palmira. The line is currently in the feasibility study stage and a first phase is expected to be awarded in 2023.

“It is imperative that we can be able to incorporate transport by means that are not internal combustion vehicles,” Ospina said.

Other investments include 1.2tn pesos to optimize water systems in the city and an initiative to auction 4,000 real estate assets seized from drug dealers for the development of housing and other projects, which is expected to involve 200-240bn pesos.

BARRANQUILLA

The largest ongoing project in the capital of Atlántico department is a US$1.2bn push to build a deepwater port, an initiative that has been talked about for 20 years.

Mayor Jaime Pumarejo said a memorandum of understanding was signed with the city’s port concessionaires for the project, and studies are being carried out to see what new infrastructure will be needed.

The multipurpose port would entail 800-1,000ha and would be able to receive ships of up to 100,000t. 

“I invite you to see it not only as Barranquilla’s deepwater port, but as the port of 70% of Colombians,” Pumarejo said, alluding to the impact the project would have as Barranquilla is located at the end of the Magdalena river, the country’s principal waterway.

Other investments for the next four years include 516bn pesos for three aqueducts (Regional Norte, Cuenca Nor-Oriental, Cuenca Nor-Occidental), 2.2tn pesos for public transport improvements, which include the purchase of gas and electric buses, and 120bn pesos for street paving

MEDELLÍN

By the end of this year, the administration of Daniel Quintero is aiming to award the studies and designs for an underground metro line for the city.

The line would connect northern Medellín with municipalities in the Aburrá valley.

In the meantime, the city is planning to tender a 3.5tn-peso light rail line for 80th avenue in the second or third quarter next year, while works should start in the fourth quarter.

By March, the city is also expected to open a new cable car line in the Picacho district, while works are underway to finish the Hidroituango power generation project.

“To push Hidroituango forward is to fulfill our obligation to Colombians,” Quintero said, assuring that the project would lead to lower electricity bills.