Sacyr has finished constructing and has put its first 4G roadway in Colombia into service: the Puerta de Hierro-Palmar de Varela y Carreto-Cruz del Viso road corridor. Through Concesionaria Vial Montes de María, the company will operate and maintain 198 kilometers of roads that connect the Sucre, Atlántico and Bolívar departments with Colombia’s inland.
With a total investment of 177 million euros and the creation of more than 5,500 direct jobs during its execution, construction works consisted of improving 164 km of road, rehabilitating 2 km, and building a 5.2-km highway exit, as well as installing Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) that allow for better communication to the road’s users.
“Through this project, executed for the Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI) (National Infrastructure Agency), we created more than 5,500 direct and indirect jobs, with 70% of staff being locals. We are proud to deliver the users a safer, more comfortable road. We are proud to start this new operation and maintenance stage which will allow us to continue contributing to the region’s economic development and improving the quality of life of the residents of the 12 municipalities within the project’s area of influence”, stated Adriana Rivera, general manager of Concesionaria Vial Montes de María.
In turn, Leopoldo Pellón, Sacyr group’s corporate manager in Colombia, stressed that “successfully culminating construction and initiating the operation stage of our first P3 highway in Colombia reaffirms Sacyr’s commitment to the country’s infrastructure development. The project was executed with high social and environmental commitment, which allowed refinancing it through the first social bond issuance tied to an infrastructure project in Latin America, for 209 million dollars”.
The new road
The total width of the road is 11.3 meters (two lanes of 3.65 m and a 2-m berm on each side of the road).
The Project is divided into three sections called Unidades Funcionales (Functional Units), two of which were already open to users:
- UF 3 (Carreto – Palmar de Varela): in operation since June 2020.
- UF 2 (El Carmen de Bolívar – Carreto – Cruz del Viso): in operation since October 2020.
- UF 1 (Puerta de Hierro – El Carmen de Bolívar y Variante El Carmen de Bolívar): in operation since May 2021.
Construction of four level crossings, one cloverleaf interchange, ten pedestrian bridges, the Centro de Control de Operaciones (CCO) (Operation Control Center), two service areas and two weighing areas.
This project benefits more than 319,000 people, residents of the municipalities within the project’s direct area of influence: Los Palmitos, Ovejas (Sucre); El Carmen de Bolívar, San Jacinto, San Juan Nepomuceno, Mahates (Bolívar); Suan, Campo de la Cruz, Ponedera and Palmar de Varela (Atlántico).