Parallel with the construction of the new Samana-serving airport at El Catey, work is progressing on the construction of the new Santo Domingo-Samana highway. The toll-based highway will halve the time it takes to travel to Samana from Santo Domingo, reducing the journey to around two hours. The 106km highway connects Las Americas Expressway with Samana, using the shortest route to cross the island. The privately built highway is expected to cost around US$162 million. Builders say that the highway could be completed by December 2007. Meanwhile, the government has opened the first section of the highway.