Two MKI tunneling machines will simultaneously excavate the underground section of the second part of the Metro Line 2 linking east and west Santo Domingo. One will be located at Carretera Mella with San Vicente de Paul Avenue and the other at Los Tres Brazos. The tunnel will connect the Puente de la 17 to Megacentro station, some four kilometers.
The machines will be tunneling 15-20 meters every 24 hours, announced Leonel Carrasco, spokesman for the Opret, the metro construction office.
The second subway line was initially scheduled to begin in Los Alcarrizos and end in San Luis, but budget limitations caused it to start at the Luperon avenue cloverleaf intersection on the Duarte Highway and stop before the Ozama River. Now it is planned to cross the river and reach the Megacentro shopping mall on the Mella Highway. Parts of the Gualey and La Barquita neighborhoods are being prepared to receive the increased passenger flow.
The new phase of the metro will add four kilometers to the route with stations at Los Tres Brazos, Fernando de Navarrete, Trina de Moya and the Megacentro. A river bus transport system is also planned to feed the Metro line.
While OPRET announces start of work on the extension, Diario Libre reports today that the electric escalators of several Metro stations are out of order. It mentions the stations Joaquin Balaguer, Francisco Alberto Caamano and Los Indios.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2014/03/24/i538601_escaleras-elctricas-del-metro-estn-apagadas.html