Antioquia’s ‘Autopista 4G Conexion Norte’ Highway Project Reaches Financial Close
Colombia’s national infrastructure agency (ANI in Spanish initials) announced January 26 that financial close has now been achieved for the COP$1.1 trillion (US$324.8 million) “Autopista 4G Conexion Norte” highway project linking Medellin north-eastward to Atlantic coast highways.
The “Conexion Norte” project — part of the massive “fourth generation” (4G) highways that would slash commercial freight delivery times around Colombia generally and Antioquia specifically — will link the outlying northern suburbs of Medellin to the Magdalena River and the “Ruta del Sol” highway between Bogota and Santa Marta.
Construction on the new highway between Remedios and Caucasia will start in February 2016, according to ANI.
In total, the “Conexión Norte” project will require four years to build, including a new bypass (five kilometers in length) around the town of Caucasia and 36 new bridges.
The project will require construction of 58 kilometers of new highway between Remedios and Zaragoza as well as upgrades to 82 kilometers of existing highway between Zaragoza y Caucasia, according to ANI.
“Conexión Norte will enable a truck moving between Cartagena and Medellín to reach its destination in 18 hours rather than the 24 hours as now required,” according to Colombia Transport Minister Natalia Abello Vives.
The “Autopistas del Nordeste” consortium won financial backing from Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui bank as well as Colombia-based Bancolombia, Davivienda and the state-owned Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN) development bank, which recently fattened its coffers by more than US$2 billion via the sale of Medellin-based power producer Isagen (see “Antioquia Highway Projects Get Financial Boost from Medellin-Based Isagen Sale,” January 13, 2016, Medellin Herald).
The new highway will be “strategic” for competitive transport between the Caribbean coast, Antioquia and central Colombia once linked to the “Autopista Magdalena 2” highway, the “Ruta del Sol” highway and the new highways linking Atlantic Coast cities, according to ANI.
