Global Courant
The regional ring is a project that borders part of the metropolitan area and seeks savings in time and costs in transportation to avoid passing through the capital on all routes. However, only three sections have advanced and the remaining five have pending the contracting of studies to start the works.
The officials who take office in the elected government of the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) will receive the work with the award of three sections of the eight that make up the project of the eastern arc of the C-50 Regional Ring, of which until now It is underway to expand only the route between Escuintla and Guanagazapa to four lanes.
Sections I and VII were awarded by the General Directorate of Roads (DGC) of the CIV and the offers presented to hire the company that will build section VI are analyzed. That is, half of the project will already be awarded, and according to that agency, in the coming days the tender for section III will be published, after completing the engineering studies.
This would leave the new government with the task of bidding, evaluating and awarding the construction of sections II, IV and V, which according to the DGC are still pending receipt of the engineering studies and did not advance the date on which they could be completed for the start of the bidding process.
Regional Ring: Timeline
35% of the budget planned for the General Directorate of Roads (DGC) for next year will be allocated to the work on three sections of the C-50 Regional Ring. For Section VIII, an allocation of Q322.2 million is projected, the same amount that is budgeted for the expansion to four lanes on route RN19 Ring C-50, Section I CA-9 Norte Sansare-El Progreso, and the same amount for Section VI in the CA-1 Oriente-El Obrajuelo, indicated the Finance portfolio. That is, the three budgeted sections together add up to Q966.7 million.
According to the 2024 budget project currently being discussed by the Congress of the Republic, these projects will mainly be financed with resources from the placement of Treasury Bonds and the disbursement of loans.
The Regional Ring C-50, eastern arc, consists of eight sections, with an approximate length of 200 kilometers that will be expanded to four lanes. So far, three sections have been awarded, but lack of financial availability slowed the execution of two projects, and this month offers were received for the two construction phases of Section VI.
In the 2024 budget project, Q322.2 million are allocated for Section I, awarded to Francisco Alejandro Córdova Molina, owner of Constructora y Transportes San Francisco, with a contract signed in April of this year for Q664.5 million. The works must be carried out within a period of 24 months, and according to the records of the National Public Investment System, the project has no financial or physical progress.
Charging
Section VII was awarded last June to the company Asfaltos y Petróleos, SA (ASPETRO) and this month the contract was signed for an amount of Q990.1 million. This project consists of 18.7 kilometers, and according to the document published in Guatecompras, it requires the construction of bypasses in the towns of El Jocotillo, El Botadero and El Obrajuelo.
It is the expansion to four lanes on the RD-GUA-09 and RD-ESC-09 routes, El Obrajuelo, Villa Canales to Guanagazapa, Escuintla, which connects with Section VIII that is under execution by the company Construcciones Integrales Avanzadas, SA (CIANSA).
Strategic infrastructure
The construction of these highways has been on the agenda to improve the country’s competitiveness, but the first contracts that were awarded were canceled early, and in this government the projects were resumed with some modifications.
Delfino Mendoza, representative of the technical infrastructure board of Guatemala No Se Detiene, indicated that the construction of the Oriente arch begins in Section VIII, and it would not be as useful if the other sections remain shelved. “The entire project must be done, so that all the heavy traffic no longer enters the capital city,” said Mendoza.
The C-50 Regional Ring is a relevant project for the country, said Héctor Fajardo, director of the Chamber of Transporters of Central America (Catransca), but the first section that is under construction has been started for almost two years and is progressing slowly.
Fajardo described that, for heavy transportation, the construction of the total project is “extremely important” because it would no longer be necessary to enter the capital, which impacts time and costs.
For example, Fajardo said that from the capital to the North coast, in Santo Tomás de Castilla, it can take between 12 or 14 hours because most of the route is two lanes. It is also a route used by Salvadoran transporters and those from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, he indicated when commenting that it will be very positive for the export sector in the region.
The deputy of the Communications, Transportation and Public Works Commission, Luis Contreras, highlighted that if the section is completed, a connection will be opened from the coast of Escuintla with the Highway to El Salvador (CAES), thus the traffic that does not have to enter Guatemala City, has the option of leaving for Jocotillo, in Villa Canales (via the Vuela del Chilero), and those who have that route can reach the CAES in an hour and a half, and advance to Jutiapa, Esquipulas or their destination by that sector.
“It would be a good relief from traffic that does not have to reach Guatemala City,” said the congressman from the Creo bench.
The improvements in this route will save time on the road, said Rony Mendoza, president of the Guild of Heavy Transport Pilots, indicating that sometimes it takes 24 hours to close a trip, mainly when there are problems such as sinking and there are up to five hours in line.
By reducing that time, pilots are able to improve their working conditions by not having to leave the night before to make deliveries the next day, said Mendoza, who also hopes that the rate of traffic accidents will decrease.
When the entire stretch is enabled to four lanes, the traffic that becomes cost overruns for companies that transport raw materials from the ports or take their products for export will be eliminated, Contreras added.
November 2024
Ciansa, which is building Section VIII of the C-50 Regional Ring, reported that the progress of the project is 30%, and although the difficulties encountered on the ground have not been significant, the rights of way, power line poles, trees and the growth of rivers have affected the construction of bridges.
In the contract with the DGC, a period of 30 months was established to complete the works, and according to Ciansa, the work would be completed in November 2024, because the area is very rainy and some procedures need to be carried out to obtain the rights. passing through on the Guanagazapa route and some vaults.
Juan Fernando Sales, a resident of Guanagazapa and former member of the Departmental Development Council (Codede), pointed out that the rains have caused flooding in communities in the municipality, and the delay in the expansion of the highway exacerbates the problems for travel because the highway is obstructed.
In some areas, bridges are needed so that people can leave when the rivers overflow, Sales added, proposing that a group of deputies, together with the local authorities of Escuintla and Guanagazapa, visit the places and supervise the work being carried out.
New year, new management
To date, the DGC has earned Q2,523.1 million of the current budget for 2023 for an amount of Q3,514.7 million. Within the payments, according to the Technical Budget Directorate (DTP), Q98.2 million was accrued for the construction of Section VIII, which has an amount of Q220.5 million assigned for 2023.
“The payments have been made by the DGC as the budget allocation has allowed,” indicated the company Ciansa, which hopes to “conclude the work with quality and that all residents benefit.”
In Mendoza’s opinion, the changes in Government generate uncertainty about the continuity of the projects, but he considers it important that the commitments already assumed in the contracts be fulfilled. Hiring can be canceled, but to do so, the cost and delay in improving infrastructure must be assumed, he said.
The project that is under discussion in Congress must be approved before November 30, otherwise the DPT of the Minfin indicated that the budget for this fiscal year would remain in force. With this, the programmed for Tranche VIII for Q200 million would be in force, but “the transfers and budget modifications that are necessary during the execution of the budget can be made,” he concluded.
The most appropriate thing is to have an approved budget to avoid causing problems, recommended Deputy Contreras.
They evaluate offers
This month, the General Directorate of Roads received offers for the two phases contemplated in Section VI CA-1 Oriente-El Obrajuelo, Villa Canales, expansion to four lanes of route RD-GUA-09 Ring C-50.
According to the Guatecompras portal, for phase 1, which includes sewage, drinking water, pavement, among others, the companies Supervisión, Construction y Mantenimiento submitted offers for Q880.6 million, and Rudy Israel Cienfuegos Cordón (Representaciones CEM), for Q868. 4 millions.
While the tender for the expansion to four lanes, the offers of Supervision, Construction and Maintenance for Q905.5 million and the company Tracser, SA for Q853.8 million are evaluated.
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