Crucial ‘Vias del Nus’ Highway Between Medellin, Atlantic Ports to Open at End-2020
Colombia’s Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI, the national infrastructure agency) announced October 2 that the crucial “Vias del Nus” connecting Medellin’s northern suburbs to Atlantic ports will open for traffic by end-2020.
The 157.4-kilometers-long project includes 24.3 kilometers of four-lane divided highway, the twin-tube “Túnel de la Quiebra” tunnels, rehabilitation of 35.6 kilometers of two-lane highway between Cisneros and Alto Dolores, construction of a third lane along 2.7 kilometers of highway between San José del Nus and Alto Dolores and the construction of 15 bridges, according to ANI.
Once opened, “Vias del Nus” will become “ the main cargo outlet from Medellín to the ports of the Caribbean Coast,” according to ANI.
The new, COP$515.6 billion (US$149 million) tunnels will enable traffic to pass beneath the heretofore problematic Alto de la Quiebra mountain in just 10 minutes — compared to the tortuous, 40-minutes-long climb-and-descent on the existing road.
Currently, the average traffic on the “Vias del Nus” corridor is 2,000 vehicles daily. But once the new highway is in operation, average daily traffic is expected to increase to around 17,000 vehicles, greatly improving freight movements between Medellin and the Atlantic with average vehicle speeds of about 80 kilometers per hour, according to ANI.
Each tube of the “Tunel de la Quiebra” will be 4.2 kilometers long, requiring excavation of tough batholitic rock. Linear progress is about 600 meters per month, with 7,500 meters of a total of 8,400 meters already excavated, according to ANI.
