Works on San Ramón bypass are projected for early 2025

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

Release from the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works of Uruguay

The San Ramón bypass will allow no interruptions in traffic and will have all the necessary features to support heavy traffic, including roundabouts at all intersections with other highways (such as highway 12) and with other roads that cross it.

During a tour of highway 6, the National Director of Highways, Hernán Ciganda, highlighted the widening works that are being carried out on the entrance road to Bridge 329, the longest in the country, at 2.08km in length. Its initial construction dates back to the 1930s, when it was envisioned as part of the railway project. After a pause, the works continued in the 1980s, when the rails were laid, and in the 1990s, the structure, which was disused, was transformed into a highway bridge that crosses the Río Negro, connecting the departments of Durazno and Tacuarembó.

The works on highway 6 began to be carried out during this period of government, on Belloni Avenue, in Montevideo, extending to highway 12 under the Public-Private Participation (PPP) modality. From there, they continue to the city of San Gabriel, where they are currently underway, and from San Gabriel to the north, where another company is already beginning to work. In addition, last month a renovation project on the route from the Mansavillagra Bridge to the city of Sarandí del Yí was completed.

Ciganda explained that there is about 37km to the junction with highway 19 that requires maintenance, and that in the Casa Saenz area, the current 84km work begins, which reaches the head of the bridge. Currently, Bridge 329 has “more than 70% of the work completed,” he indicated, so its inauguration is scheduled for August of this year.

Likewise, in the northern part of the bridge, the tender has already been carried out for the execution of works, which will extend highway 6 to highway 26, in the town of Caraguatá. This section of more than 40km is scheduled to have construction begin in the first few days of July, according to the Director.

Once these works are completed, they will create a corridor from Montevideo to the border with Brazil, with high-quality road sections that will support heavy loads and tri-trains. “Having been originally built for the railway, the bridge is designed to withstand heavy loads,” explained Ciganda. This new corridor will significantly reduce traffic on highway 5, improving the lives of many people in the region and facilitating transportation from the north of highway 26, Caraguatá, and Paso Hospital to Montevideo.