‘Magdalena 2’ Highway Completion Links Antioquia with Cartagena Ports
Colombia’s national infrastructure agency (Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura, ANI) announced November 10 the long-awaited completion of the “Magdalena 2” highway linking Antioquia with Colombia’s giant ocean ports at Cartagena.
“With the opening of [the final] 35 kilometers between Remedios and Vegachí, the government puts the 4G [fourth-generation] Magdalena River Highway 2 project into operation and maintenance,” according to ANI.
Magdalena 2 project now spans 144 kilometers, connecting the middle-Magdalena region (including Antioquia) with the Atlantic coast, in conjunction with the earlier-completed “Vías del Nus” and “Conexión Norte 2″ highways that link Medellin to Colombia’s main Atlantic ports.
Those projects “represent an investment of COP$2.44 trillion [US$648 million] in capex and COP$1.56 trillion [US$415 million] in opex,” according to ANI.
“Located in the northeastern region of the department of Antioquia, functional unit 1 (UF1) begins at the junction with the Autopistas del Nordeste concession in the municipality of Remedios and extends to the municipality of Vegachí, where it continues with UF2, which has been operational since February 2025.”
The new, UF1 section also includes “16.5-kilometers of a third passing lane in specific sections, significantly improving speed and road safety,” as well as “a roundabout in Vegachí, which will facilitate the connection between the national highway, the departmental road network, and the municipal access road,” the agency added.
UF1 also features 16 new bridges and viaducts, four new underpasses, two new overpasses, and one pedestrian bridge.
That section also includes the new Santa Isabel toll plaza at Remedios, and a new maintenance base in Vegachí, which includes “provision of essential services such as road inspection, a mobile workshop, a crane and [emergency] medical care,” the agency added.
