Global Courant
If you are one of those who have suffered the nightmare of traveling on a road to the west full of potholes, dark and with little signage, surely you are one of those who were happy to see the crews working on the new and resurfaced CA-4.
Everything points to the fact that now the road ordeal will end, or at least that will happen in the 79.10 kilometers that are in the Naco-La Entrada section (Nueva Arcadia, Copán), after the first works began about four weeks ago by three companies that won the new tender to execute, no later than a period of 15 months, the works, as stipulated in the contracts.
The three winners of the tender held in 2022 were Eterna, which will renovate section one; Construction Professionals (Prodecón), with subsection two, and William & Molina with subsection three.
Together, these 79 kilometers will cost the State 1,181 million lempiras, divided as follows: subsection at a cost of L422.1 million, subsection two at L344.0 million and subsection three, valued at L415.6 million.
The works include, in addition to the resurfacing with hydraulic concrete, using the “whitetopping” technique -similar to what was done with the first street and Junior avenue-, at least nine more components, but none of them mention two that are vital for the road safety of thousands of people: lighting and signaling (only includes bridge painting).
Whitetopping consists of placing an overlay or hydraulic concrete slab on top of the existing pavement, thereby increasing the duration of the structure.
Pursuant to the contracts, 183,821 cubic meters of concrete will be poured on the double track under these specifications: MR 653 psi (pounds per square inch), with a thickness of 22 centimeters.
LA PRENSA Premium tried to contact SIT authorities to find out who will be responsible for signaling the road and at what cost, but it was not possible, neither through public relations nor by calling Minister Mauricio Ramos directly.
And the other sections?
The start of CA-4; that is, from the Lempira neighborhood, in Chamelecón, to Green Valley, Naco (18 kilometers), it is the one that represents the most challenges for engineers. This part of the highway, apart from being the most populated and with intense and constant traffic, is close to the Chamelecón river and El Merendón. To release it, apparently, it is not possible.
At least that’s what Mauricio Ramos, Minister of the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Transportation, confirmed to LA PRENSA on May 26, when he announced that Finance had already approved 80 million dollars (some L2,000 million more) for the new highway that would have to be built. build across the river; that is to say, in the part that already corresponds to Villanueva, which implies erecting two other bridges over the Chamelecón river.
3100
It will cost approximately millions of lempiras from SPS to La Entrada, Copán, the new highway. It remains to estimate the cost of the road from Santa Rosa to the borders.
One of the possible routes contemplated and being analyzed measures 24 kilometers and is the one that joins the village of El Marañón (Villanueva) and the Búfalo sector with Rancho Manacal in Cofradía.
There already exists a road that goes uphill through the mountain and is unpaved.
“It is impossible to think of building four lanes from Chamelecón to Naco along the current route, our proposal, which is in the design process, is to find an alternative for the bypass, which is on the other side of the river,” Ramos said at the time. No start date was set for this part.
The other pending route is the one from Santa Rosa de Copán to the border with El Salvador. This 93 km route to El Poy (El Salvador) was recently put out to tender.
Expectations. Although Jorge Chacón did not understand the work carried out by the crews, which are currently clearing the rights of way and changing drainage pipes, something told him that he would finally stop thinking of the worst every time he returned, in the dark of night. , since the university.
He has been working as a driver for a delivery company in San Pedro Sula for eight years and then goes to university to finish his studies in Administration.
Every day he gets up at 4:00 am to get to work, since he lives in Quimistán, Santa Bárbara, otherwise he would not arrive on time.
“I already tried to live in San Pedro Sula, but the rents are very expensive and it is better for me to come to my house every day, I spend on fuel, but it is cheaper than renting. The worst thing about the trip at that time is that you are tired, but you must be careful, since the road is completely dark and has almost always been full of potholes. It’s exhausting, but I’m about to graduate and I know it will be worth it,” said this 32-year-old citizen.
For Rubén Darío Pacheco, mayor of Quimistán, the execution of the rehabilitation works of the CA-4 opens a range of opportunities for the municipality, which is in full expansion.
“We have been waiting for this for years. The trade between Quimistán and San Pedro Sula is what gives life to the economic activity of this area, both for what goes from here for local production and what is brought from there for consumption. And our relationship is not only commercial. Our youth go to college every day,” he said.
Despite the welcome that they give to the new works, they face a municipal challenge, since the works that have begun have to move residents of three communities from the rights of way.
More than 243 kilometers must be traveled from San Pedro Sula to the El Poy border with El Salvador. The road for years has been repaired.
In total, there are 60 families in the Las Tejeras sector that must be relocated, 17 families in El Ocotal and 12 more families from Nueva Navidad, as well as others that are scattered along the 44 kilometers of the CA-4 that correspond to it. to Quimistan.
They have managed housing projects for them with Cepudo, who has agreed to give them new roofs.
