Crucial ‘Mar 1’ Highway Hits 75% Advance, ‘Vias del Nus’ Project Now at 70%

Colombia’s national infrastructure agency (Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura, ANI) announced October 19 that the “Mar 1” highway project connecting Medellin westward to current and future Atlantic ports has jumped-ahead to 75% completion.

Meanwhile, the “Vias del Nus” highway project linking Medellin northward to the “Ruta del Sol” connection to Cartagena and Santa Marta is now 70% complete, according to ANI.

The “Mar 1” project includes construction of the second tube of Medellin’s existing “Tunel al Occidente” tunnel (4.6 kilometers, due for completion by end-2022), as well as a new bridge over the Cauca river (426 meters), eventually connecting “ Mar 1” to the “Mar 2” highway — including the new “Túnel del Toyo” (aka “Tunel Guillermo Gaviria Echeverri”) project, Colombia’s longest highway tunnel.

“Mar 1” has a total length of 181 kilometers, “connecting Medellín with the main commercial exchange centers such as the Caribbean Coast, the Pacific Coast and the Magdalena River,” according to ANI.

The COP$1.8 trillion (US$468 million) project includes 43 viaducts, including 18 completed, 23 in construction and two not-yet started.

“The Mar 1 and Mar 2 projects, together with the Pacific 1, 2, 3 toll roads, will facilitate foreign trade to and from the coffee region,” ANI vice president Carlos García said.

“Currently, the travel time in a truck from the coffee region to Urabá [Atlantic ports] is 21 hours, but with the construction of these projects it will be reduced to 12 hours,” García added.

Vías del Nus Update

Meanwhile, ANI reported October 9 that the COP$1.2 trillion (US$312 million) “Vías del Nus” highway project heading northward from Medellin is now 70% complete.

Another 40 kilometers of that highway has just opened, part of what eventually will stretch 156 kilometers, crossing the Magdalena River and joining with the “Ruta del Sol” highway to northern Caribbean ports.

The entire “Vías del Nus” project is now expected to be complete by first-half 2021, according to ANI. That highway will enable traffic speeds of 80 kilometers/hour and will slash travel times between Pradera (just north of Medellin) and Alto de Dolores (Antioquia).

A crucial section of “Vías del Nus” includes the COP$673 billion (US$175 million) twin-tube “La Quiebra” tunnels, eliminating an historic bottleneck that has snagged freight traffic between Medellin and northern Antioquia for more than 100 years. The “La Quiebra” tunnel project is now 76% complete, according to ANI.