El Salvador advances with peripheral ring road construction

El Salvador’s public works and transportation ministry (MOPT) provided a construction progress update for the Gerardo Barrios peripheral ring road project, in San Miguel municipality. 

The first of the project’s four stretches has been completed and opened to traffic, while three remain under construction, MOPT said in a press release.

With an investment of US$50.5mn, the second stretch includes an 8.3km expansion from two to four lanes of the Panamericana highway. It also comprises construction of the first overpass in the eastern part of the country (pictured), which will have an extension of 71.4m and has reached 95% progress. 

Paving works have advanced 50% and will be finished this month, MOPT said.

The third stretch involves 7.2km of works and the building of a roundabout with an investment of US$34.1mn. 

With US$24mn in capex, the fourth stretch entails construction of two vehicular bridges: a 115m bridge over the Grande River with four lanes, and a two-lane bridge over the Taisihuat River with an extension of 110m. 

For these stretches the ministry did not provide progress details. 

The US$160mn project is partly funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which provided a US$51.4mn loan in August. 

In February, the legislative assembly approved tax exemptions for four infrastructure projects, including the 21km Gerardo Barrios works. 

Photo. Construction of overpass. Source: MOPT.