Antioquia to complete part of Toyo tunnel works

Colombia's highway authority Invías accepted a request from Antioquia department and allowed it to complete a 4.2km branch of section 2 Toyo tunnel works.

The 18.2km section 1, which demands 3tn pesos (US$719mn), is being built by Antioquia and Medellín. It is 90% complete. The 19.5km section 2 demands 2tn pesos, is being built by Invías and 50% complete.

The section 2 works the department will oversee include 2.8km of road, a 200m bridge and a 1,500m tunnel between Santa Fe de Antioquia and Giraldo, governor Andrés Julián Rendón told reporters.

He added that Antioquia will invest 330bn pesos in the works and suggested that the department could take over other contracts by Invías and infrastructure agency ANI in the area.

The decision came after meetings between Rendón and transport minister María Constanza García.

The Toyo Tunnel is the most important infrastructure project in Antioquia and part of the fourth generation (4G) Vía al Mar initiative.

The tunnel will link interior cities like Medellín, the Gulf of Urabá and ports currently under construction. It also includes complementary works that connect the Mar 1 and Mar 2 highways.

5G FINANCIAL CLOSURE

Six fifth-generation (5G) road infrastructure initiatives achieved financial closures totaling 8.9tn pesos, ANI reported.

They are the Magdalena trunk 1, Magdalena trunk 2, ALO Sur, Northern Access phase II, Valle del Cauca road network-Cali-Palmira accesses, and the Buenaventura-Lobo Guerrero-Buga link.

Magdalena trunk 1 includes 260km between Puerto Salgar (Cundinamarca) and Barrancabermeja (Santander), Magdalena trunk 2 includes the Sabana de Torres road corridor (Santander-Curumaní in Cesar), and Northern Access phase II expansion works on Autopista Norte.

ALO Sur includes work on 24.5km of road between Chusacá (Soacha) and Calle 13 in Fontibón, while the new road network of Valle del Cauca-Cali-Palmira accesses includes construction and improvement of 310km between Buga in Valle del Cauca and Santander de Quilichao.

The Buenaventura-Lobo Guerrero-Buga corridor is aimed at improving mobility in the port area of Buenaventura, one of the main logistics corridors for international trade and connectivity with the country's interior.