Minister of Public Works Gonzalo Castillo says that work on Santo Domingo’s four-lane bypass will start next week, as reported in El Dia. He said that the highway would cost US$330 million. An estimated 25,000 vehicles a day are expected to use the bypass, which will link the southwest of the country with the east and the Cibao region. It will be built by engineer Hector Then’s Compreca firm, which was contracted in 2002. The road was never started.
Castillo said changes had been made to the feeder roads, especially at the Sanchez and 6 de Noviembre intersection in San Cristobal, and with the Duarte Highway to improve traffic flow there.
He said that a tender would be issued for the section linking the Mella Highway and Boca Chica.
The new bypass, which starts in Haina Port will link with Km. 23 of the Duarte Highway, continuing via the Mella Highway to the Boca Chica feeder road, off the Multimodal Caucedo Port. The first section will take 18 months, and the second 12 months. Overall, the bypass will be 72.63km long: Haina-Duarte 16.90, Duarte-Boca Chica: 45.10km, Higuero-Ozama: 7.8km. The tolls for each stretch will be RD$100. He said the money collected at the tolls would be spent on highway maintenance.
“We consider this to be a priority work for Greater Santo Domingo and the National District,” he told El Dia. He said that the bypass would also contribute to the industrial development of these areas.