President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric Font, inaugurates the El Vergel link in Valparaíso: “It means a better quality of life and strengthening the port and its growth prospects”

Press release from the Ministry of Public Works of Chile

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

c Font, led the inauguration of the El Vergel link of Route 60-CH in Valparaíso, an infrastructure that will connect Camino La Pólvora with Camino El Vergel in both directions.

Accompanied by the Minister of Public Works , Jessica López; the Governor of the Valparaíso Region, Rodrigo Mundaca; the Regional Presidential Delegate of Valparaíso, Sofía González; and the Mayor of Valparaíso, Jorge Sharp, the Head of State stressed that “this is a long-term structural project (…) This link constitutes an alternative route to Valparaíso, direct to the port, which means a better quality of life, but also, it strengthens the port with respect to the perspective of its growth.”

"This project makes us proud because it is an effort made by the State to connect inland areas with the most important roads and cities in the country, with high standards of road safety," added the President.

The works for this project included two two-way access roads (east-west and vice versa), sidewalks and a multipurpose path, to provide road and pedestrian access to the cemetery, the municipal landfill and Camino El Vergel.

With an investment of more than 14.8 billion pesos from the Ministry of Public Works, this project included improvements to Camino La Pólvora in road safety, surveillance cameras, landscaping, lighting and sanitation, including a rainwater collector on the service roads.

The works also included the painting of murals, selected through collaborative and participatory work by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Valparaíso, the Placilla Museum and communities of Placilla and its surroundings.

The President also highlighted the importance of the project in an emergency, because “this link will allow residents of higher areas of the commune to evacuate more quickly and facilitate access to firefighters and firefighting brigades.”

Minister Jessica López said that “this is the type of infrastructure that is important for Chile, for the cities of Chile, that allows us to have greater security and greater redundancy in the face of natural events and climate change.”

"It was a project that took 30 months and cost 15 billion pesos, and that also considered art in its design, with murals that are very relevant to the community and its surroundings," he added.