Minister of Public Works Gonzalo Castillo has announced plans to start the San Juan-Santiago highway no later than August this year, 2014. The Medina administration has said it will not start any public work that it cannot complete by the end of its term in August 2016.
Castillo says that they have analyzed 17 options for which is closest, where structures are better, where most jobs can be created, and where the environment will be least affected. He said the tender for the highway would be announced in April, as reported in Diario Libre.
The highway is very controversial because it will require cutting through the Central Mountain range an area that is protected by several national parks.
Opponents say that the government should repair existing routes for the south-north connection that do not affect the vulnerable forest areas.
www.geografiafisica.org/tag/carretera-cibao-sur/