Project spotlight: El Salvador’s US$300mn Los Chorros highway widening

El Salvador and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) are advancing with the project to widen the Los Chorros stretch of the Pan-American highway.

Public works and transport ministry (MOP) head Romeo Rodríguez Herrera said recently that the project would demand  investment of around US$300mn.

The stretch runs between the Monseñor Romero highway and La Libertad department’s municipalities of Santa Tecla, Colón and San Juan Opico.

Beside widening works, the project also includes construction of a 1km viaduct, dubbed Francisco Morazán. 

Project details

Works on the 15km stretch are divided into three stages, with two consisting of widening works and the third being the viaduct construction, MOP said in a statement last month. 

The first stage will see the widening of almost 5km between Monseñor Romero boulevard in the Las Delicias neighborhood and downtown Los Chorros. The existing part of the Pan-American highway will be widened from six to eight lanes, with four in each direction. 

The second stage is for the viaduct with the same number of lanes, from downtown Los Chorros to La Pedrera region. According to MOP, this will be the longest and most complex bridge project ever built in El Salvador. 

Stage three will see the widening of almost 9km from La Pedrera to San Juan Opico municipality, from six to eight lanes.

Tenders

Several tender announcements have been made by MOP and Cabei for the project, with the latest being a supervision tender.

MOP has invited consulting firms interested in supervising the works on stages one and three, according to notices published on Cabei’s procurement site. 

The deadline for submissions of interest in the contracts is June 8.

Financing

Cabei approved US$246mn in financing for the project in November 2019, with some of the funds coming from the South Korean government.

The loan was not approved by El Salvador’s legislative assembly until June 2021, according to the BNamericas Project Database.