Colombia reaches 54% progress in 4G highway construction

ANI statement

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Spanish

A 54.04% progress of works in the Fourth Generation-4G concessions , a total of 62,021 jobs created, the reactivation of key projects, milestones in the early completion of works and thousands of lives benefited are the achievements of the National Agency of Infrastructure ( ANI ) during the first four months of the year 2021.

“We continue working to improve the future of Colombians by building modern works and generating employment, that is perhaps the best balance we can give during these first months of the year, in terms of concessioned transport infrastructure. This result is quite positive considering the challenges faced in a year in which the pandemic tried to slow down the development of the country. However, we do not stop and we continue steadfast, bringing progress with equity to the regions, ”said Angela María Orozco, Minister of Transportation .

One of the outstanding events of these first four months occurred on April 14 and had as its epicenter the department of Antioquia , where 16 months ahead of schedule the excavation of the left road of the Amagá Tunnel, located near the municipality of the Amagá Tunnel, was completed. same name, which is part of the Pacific 1 project.

The completion of the 3,600 meters of excavation in the tunnel anticipated the stall or meeting of the two work fronts and the completion of the same activity on the right-hand road is expected for next June.

This work is key to facing the mountainous geography of the region and will benefit the inhabitants of the municipalities of Venecia, Amagá, Titiribí, Caldas and in general those of the southwest of Antioquia, Medellín and the department of Chocó.

“With these works we are fulfilling one of the entity's objectives, that Colombians improve their quality of life thanks to the infrastructure works. And we are achieving this with the advancement of these projects that undoubtedly improve the mobility of citizens and positively impact the country's competitiveness ”, expressed Manuel Felipe Gutiérrez , President of the ANI.

Another block that became a milestone is the La Paz tunnel, which is part of the Bucaramanga-Barrancabermeja-Yondó (BBY) project, since on March 2 the excavation of its 3,166 meters in length was completed.

Around 250 people from the region worked for two years in the excavation and contributed so that the project currently has a 73.67% progress and whose investment includes resources for 2.1 billion pesos.

With the commissioning of the tunnel, around 450,000 inhabitants of the municipalities of Lebrija, Betulia, Girón, San Vicente de Chucurí, Barrancabermeja and Yondó will benefit, as well as those of Bucaramanga and its metropolitan area.

TWO DELIVERIES AND A REACTIVATION

On March 4, with the presence of the President of the Republic, Iván Duque, the ANI put 23.11 kilometers of dual carriageway at the service of Colombians between the townships of Pilcuán and Pedregal and the municipality of Tangua, which are part of the project. Rumichaca-Pasto .

“With the delivery of these two sections we are saying to Nariño: here the word is fulfilled and the commitments are fulfilled, because the works belong to the citizens. And thanks to the work of the ANI, the concessionaires and their technical teams, in September of this year we will be finishing the other two Functional Units of this project that generates employment, development, progress, competitiveness, mobility and trade ”, he said at the time the first president.

The ANI expects for this year the total start of operations of this project that has generated 4,926 jobs, which until April 15 showed an advance of 89.56% and that already offers a 40-minute reduction in travel time between the Bridge Rumichaca and Pasto International.

This same project made headlines in April because the ANI agreed with the Nariño transporters to make a tariff adjustment on tolls. After several tables of socialization with authorities of the department, it was decided that the increases of various categories be distributed over time.

On February 5, the ANI delivered 65 kilometers of simple road improvement between the municipality of El Carmen de Bolívar and the town of Cruz del Viso, which will improve connectivity between Atlántico and Bolívar .

This section is part of the Puerta de Hierro – Palmar de Varela and Carreto – Cruz del Viso road corridor, which shows 97.94% progress, has 346 jobs and benefits the inhabitants of El Carmen de Bolívar, San Jacinto, San Juan Nepomuceno and Mahates, and the townships of Carreto, San Cayetano, Malagana and Cruz del Viso.

The road project has a total length of 202.56 kilometers, boosts the economic development of the region and benefits more than 152,000 inhabitants.

On the 12th of the same month, the IP Expansion to a Third Carril Double Calzada Bogotá-Girardot was reactivated , which after the signing of Other No. 3 and Suspension Act No. 2 defined the conditions to achieve the execution of the works and the generation of about 1,350 jobs.

The project, which includes the rehabilitation of the dual carriageway in a length of 144.8 kilometers, with a total investment of $ 5.28 billion, will benefit more than one million people in the 13 municipalities on which it has an impact and will improve the mobility of more than 17 million vehicles that travel annually through this road corridor.

INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IMPACTS LIVES

One of the main purposes of the National Government through infrastructure works is to connect and impact lives, which was achieved in the Girardot-Ibagué-Cajamarca road corridor, which allows 129 families to live in their own homes and another 53 to have received a socioeconomic compensation to resettle, after they resided for years in makeshift homes in an invasion area known as La Martinica, in the southern part of Ibagué.

This is witnessed by Gladys Martínez, a 50-year-old woman who now has her own house where she lives with her daughter and her four grandchildren, in the Nueva Castilla neighborhood of the capital of Tolima .

“For any family, having a home is a blessing and it was something we had always longed for. One day they came to the slopes of the road where we lived and, at first, we did not believe that they were really going to give us a house, but over time we realized that they were and today we are very grateful for this project ”.

Gladys is grateful. “We have never had the opportunity to live like this. Before, children could not play calmly thinking that the ball would hit the road, and now that we live in a house, in a neighborhood as such, we have parks where they play. We also have the possibility of taking a transport that takes us to our jobs, we no longer have to walk as much as before and this has improved our lives, "he said.