how much they cost, the degree of progress and which companies should finish them

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This “second tunnel” to relieve the Pass Christ redeemer it’s a play announced and re-announced in the governments of Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández, but on September 22 of last year it was paralyzed due to lack of money and problems in the project, with an advance that according to the agreement signed by the chief of staff Guillermo Francos and governor Alfredo Cornejo is only 2.88%. Internal documents from National Roads had set this advance at 1.60% in December of last year.

It does not matter. The Caracoles Tunnel project must be reworkedbecause it has structural errors that we described in May when presenting the work “Mendoza Exposed: The Route of Shame” which was broadcast by Channel 7 and Radio Nihuil and published in Diary ONE:

There, we tell why you have to redo the entire project. The work is technically “neutralized”: the workshop is still in place, the contract was not terminated, and the company Rovella Carranza will resume construction.

The announcement of the agreement between the Nation and the Province of Mendoza was made on Friday afternoon through the official networks of Alfredo Cornejo and the government’s broadcast. But the fine detail of all the works, the amounts involved and the percentage of progress of each work was known in the last hours.

The officials of the Mendoza government – from Cornejo on down – They were surprised by the inclusion of the Caracoles Tunnel in the list of works that will be resumed as soon as late payments from the Nation to the construction companies are released. Rather, they expected the national government to aim to complete works with a great degree of progress, such as the Palmyra variantalso included in the list with a balance of 21.1 billion pesos as of December of last year.

It is impossible to separate the signing of these works contracts that Guillermo Francos is signing with the provinces (he already did it with Córdoba, Santa Fe and Chubut), from the treatment of the Base Law this Wednesday in the Senate of the Nation. Could it be an exchange plan? Not in the case of Mendoza. Alfredo Cornejo has been supporting Milei’s transformation projects since the beginning. What if it was? no one will say a word.

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The works

In the details of works that are part of “Annex II” of the agreement that Cornejo and Francos signed on Friday to revive road and water and sanitation works, there is a complete picture. In the following table you can see what works it is aboutthe pending investment amount, the degree of progress, and the contracting firm:

The refunctionalization of the Caracoles Tunnelthe double via to San Juan, the broken bridges of Route 40, Palmyra variantthe completion of the double track Luján-Tunuyanrepairs on Route 146 from San Luis to Monte Comán (it is in very bad condition), the connection of Route 40 with Jocolí in the North Zone and a completely stopped work, which consisted of repairs on the South Access on both sides between streets JJ Paso and the junction with Route 7.

With this last work there could be money problems. There is no progress, it is at “zero” percent total, but the calculation of 826 million pesos included in the agreement with the Nation would not be enough because “…it was calculated in 2021 and the route deteriorated much more since then…” said a source who understands highway issues and was involved with the project.

The road works included in this agreement would be resumed soon. A government source confirmed that the company José Cartellone SA has already received a flow of funds for restart jobs of the Palmira Bypass, which will decongest the entry of heavy cargo to Mendoza bound for Chile. It is one of the most advanced works.

In the original list that Francos and Cornejo discussed there were more works, such as sections of Route 7 from Agrelo to Uspallata, but they were finally left out at least at this stage. In the same way, The province will absorb the cost of at least one of these works, Route 99 in the Ecopark area, which is very advanced.

Preparing the list of works would have taken the new national officials three months. When those from the Ministry of the Interior and the Province began to talk, the recommendation of the people of Mendoza was to search the databases of organizations such as National Roads or ENOHSA. And it seems that there would be a real disorder inherited from the government of Alberto Fernandez. It took him entire months to reconcile figures and works until reaching the list of 14 that will be reactivated. Among those that were left out are a very important one on Route 7, the reconstruction of the pavement and one more road between Aguas del Pizarro and Potrerillos. That work, as we tell in Mendoza Expuesta, is without a contract and paralyzed. Genco-Laugero had it, with an advance of 7% and a balance of still about 12,000 million pesos. The same with the Potrerillos-Uspallata section, with much less progress. It was in charge of Marcalba SA, the same company that will fix route 146.

Water and sewer

The province’s agreement with the national government included sanitation and purification worksall within the orbit of ENOHSA and with financing agreements, either national or through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

This is the table that includes the works, the pending amounts and the degree of progress:

One of these works has a particular story. It is identified in the agreements as “Drinking water production and provision system Pedemonte Norte, Las Heras”. It was the biggest “campaign work” that the then mayor promoted Daniel Orozco next to Sergio Massawho in July of last year – when the announcement was made – was Minister of Economy and pre-candidate for president, before the PASO in August.

At that time, official information detailed that the work It was a 12-kilometer aqueduct that would benefit some 14,000 families in Las Heras and the west of the City of Mendoza.. As soon as the announcement was formalized, Natalio Mema – who was secretary of public services in the government of Rodolfo Suarez – came out to explain that until that moment, of the more than 1.3 billion pesos that the work cost, the province had only put in 150 million pesos.

The progress of that work, although the advance payment would have been paid to the contractor, It is null. She was now rescued by the agreement between Guillermo Francos and Cornejo. In the table that follows, we have ordered the works by “degree of progress”, in their entirety:

Peronist suspicions

The agreement known on Friday brought “noise” among the Peronist mayors who had negotiated works with Alberto Fernández, on the “side” of the provincial governments of Cambia Mendoza.

Matías Stevanato (Maipú) made it public. Yesterday morning, the Undersecretary of Infrastructure Marité Badui explained in our program “You don’t have a face” (Radio Nihuil) that the works included in the agreement had already been discussed with Franks, since the now chief of staff was in the Ministry of the Interior. It was when the journalist Rosana Villegas He asked him why he had been left out of the agreement. San Rafael gas pipelinewhich on the other hand is judicialized.

In the southern municipality, they expect news from the Federal Chamber this week, to force the Nation to comply with the agreement that the forces to finish the gas pipeline from the south.

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