El Siglo newspaper reports that the bridge going up parallel to the Juan Pablo Duarte bridge could be completed by the end of the Fernández term in August 2000. The bridge is part of a road plan to decongestion east-west traffic. At present there are three concrete bridges over the Ozama River, and a temporary barge bridge that was installed by the government to facilitate the revamping of the Duarte Bridge. The new bridge is 700 meters by 33 wide. It has four lanes for vehicular traffic and two for train traffic. It is estimated to handle 80,000-90,000 cars in peak hours. The bridge is being built by Dragado FCC-Construcciones Civiles y Marítimas at a cost of about RD$400 million.
