Bids Start To Come In for
Cañas-Liberia Highway Project
(InfoWebPress) – The National Roadways Council (CONAVI) began last
Jan. 30 the process of receiving bids from companies interested in
repairing and expanding the section of the Pan American Highway
North between the cities of Cañas and Liberia.
On the following day, the government’s official daily, La Gaceta,
published the call for bids from companies interested in the
project. These companies have until March 3 to present their
proposals to CONAVI.
The project will entail reconstruction and widening of 54 kilometers
between the cities of Cañas and Liberia, also including sidewalks
and bike paths. The road expansion will first target this section of
the highway — on which 3,000-4,000 vehicles circulate daily —
because no expropriation will be needed to accommodate the
additional lanes (which could cause delays), as that land is already
owned by the government. The project will also include nine
pedestrian bridges, bus bays and 30 kilometers of bike paths with
guardrails.
Bike paths are an important part of road expansion projects
scheduled for Guanacaste. In addition to the Liberia-Cañas section,
plans also call for building a bike path between 27 de Abril and Rio
Seco in Santa Cruz (alongside a new highway to be built there) and
another one between the beaches of Junquillal and Avellanas. These
works include constructions of the bike paths, sidewalks, guardrails
and pedestrian bridges.
The highway section from Liberia to Peñas Blancas will be expanded
during a second phase of this project.
The Ministry of Transportation and Public Infrastructure (MOPT) will
be soliciting proposals for building these roads both with asphalt
and cement, later selecting the proposal that offers the best cost
advantages in the long term.
Regarding financing, MOPT informed funds will come from the Central
American Economic Integration Bank (BCIE). The works will have an
estimated total cost of $150 million. The project will also be
financed in part through an $850 million loan from the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
If no delays arise, it is expected that the project will be assigned
to the winning bidder during the second semester of 2008, with
construction lasting one year. The need for this expansion comes
from the increase in vehicular traffic that has been experienced on
this highway, due to higher domestic and international tourism
activity in Guanacaste.
The road expansion will be complemented by works on three bridges in
Guanacaste, which will be repaired. These are the Abangares,
Aranjuez and Azufrado bridges.
Repairs to these important bridges are part of the bridge
maintenance program going on in Guanacaste. During the third quarter
of 2008, some $65 million were invested in bridges around the
country, part of which went to Guanacaste.
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