Uruguay inaugurates road works near new UPM plant

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish.

Statement from the Ministry of Transport and Public Works of Uruguay

The Minister of Transport and Public Works, José Luis Falero, and the Undersecretary, Juan José Olaizola, accompanied by the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, inaugurated the new Bridge over the Negro River in By Pass Centenario, Paso de los Toros - Durazno.

The Centennial Bridge is 550 meters long, made up of 22 sectors of 25 meters. This is one of the 227 bridges that will be intervened in this period within the framework of the National Road Infrastructure Plan, the purpose of which is to increase the quality of the road network, improving road safety and connectivity throughout national territory.

In this work, executed in a period of 13 months by the company Saceem, more than 11 million dollars were invested. There, the north and south accesses of route 5 were also inaugurated, as well as the interchange to the UPM plant (km. 250). "It will give us the certainty that the next governments, within a State policy, do not have to insist again or repair a route that has been made and that is also about efficiency of the State in the management of public works," said José Luis Falero.

In this way, the needs of transport traffic are adapted to the reality of the national road network, as well as the intervention that was carried out at the intersection of routes 43 and 59, seeking to improve the quality of the pavement in an area that will receive a lot of circulation of vehicles once the new Picada Oribe Bridge has been enabled. On route 43, the authorities inaugurated the section: route 59 (28 km) to San Gregorio del Polanco, and the section route 5 (0 km) to route 59 (28 km). On route 59, the section: (0 km) at 19.38 km and the section 19.381 km at 39.350 km.

The Minister also anticipated that work will begin on the section from Bonilla to Route 59, "to join the construction of the entirety of Route 59 with a different characteristic, here we are going to come with an asphalt mix pavement, which give us the certainty of the durability of that work". Falero pointed out that these interventions that have to do with transversalizing the routes in different departments, are essential to "generate a redistribution of traffic that will allow us to decongest the saturation."

"This is what it is about adapting rural infrastructure to the needs of production, transportation, citizenship, and uniting the peoples of those places that are the most forgotten and furthest away from our country, who have the same rights as those who live in the metropolitan areas. This government is going to be characterized by uniting peoples, by addressing real decentralization, but above all things, also by lowering production costs," said the official.

The day ended with a tour of the Picada Oribe Bridge, in San Gregorio del Polanco, department of Tacuarembó, attended by departmental and national authorities. This work is expected to be enabled between the months of February and March 2023, replacing the raft service, provided by the National Hydrography Directorate, which until now was the only one that allowed vehicles and pedestrians to cross the Negro River.