Devimar Wins Enviro Permits for Crucial ‘Mar 1’ Highway Project in Antioquia

Medellin-based highway concessionaire Devimar announced September 13 that it has obtained two vital environmental licenses that pave the way for construction of the “Autopista al Mar-1” divided highway linking Medellin westward toward current and future Atlantic ports.

The project also will include construction of a second tunnel parallel to the existing “Tunel del Occidente” (West Tunnel) on the western Medellin boundary.

“This milestone allows us to continue with the construction stage of the second road between the West Tunnel to San Jerónimo, and from San Jerónimo to Santa Fe de Antioquia,” according to Devimar.

“The commitments stipulated in the license include compliance with rehabilitation, reforestation and conservation activities. These interventions will seek to mitigate and compensate for possible environmental impacts.”

The new permits issued by Colombia’s national environmental licensing authority (ANLA) “are a great step forward for the development of the project,” according to Devimar.

“Our compensation plans are designed so that our intervention in the development of the project is positive, and in this way we can protect the animal and plant life that coexists with the Autopista al Mar-1 project,” said Devimar manager Jesus Rodriguez Robles.

Projects to be developed include ecological rehabilitation, reforestation of more than 800 hectares of natural forest, and secondary vegetation, according to the company.

“Likewise, in the matter of care and protection of water, we will act to conserve the Cauca River and the Cauca and Aurra river basins with priority in the sub-basins that have been identified as aqueduct suppliers,” according to the company.

The “Mar 1” project includes:

1. Improvement of the existing roadway and the construction of a second road in the Medellín section (Aburrá – Cauca road connection) and then onward to Santa Fe de Antioquia.
2. Construction of a second, parallel, 4.6-kilometers-long West Tunnel, “which will solve traffic problems at the entrance to Medellín.”
3. Rehabilitation of the existing road between Santa Fe de Antioquia and the village of Peñalisa (municipality of Salgar), including improvements to the Peñalisa bridge over the San Juan river.
4. Rehabilitation of 25 kilometers and operation and maintenance of the 62-kilometers-long road between Santa Fe de Antioquia and Cañasgordas.

The project will improve highway traffic movements between Medellín, Ebéjico, San Jerónimo, Sopetrán, Santa Fe de Antioquia, Buriticá, Giraldo, Cañasgordas, Anzá, Concordia, Betulia, Salgar and Venecia.