In this way, the Entity sent notes to the Minister of Economy of the Nation, Dr. Luis Caputo; to the Secretary of Public Works of the Nation, Eng. Luis Enrique Giovine; to the General Administrator of National Roads, Eng. Raúl Edgardo Bertola; to the Secretary of Concessions, Dr. Mariano Mirotti; to the Undersecretary of Inspection and Control, Dr. Juan Ignacio Mier and to the Head of the Entre Ríos District National Highway Headquarters, Architect Guillermo Marcone.
In the aforementioned notes, and by way of background, the Commerce Center recalled that back in February 2019 the Institution had already requested the lifting of the tolls on National Route 14, General Artigas Highway, pointing out the regrettable state of the road layout and the lack of corresponding maintenance by the dealer.
Regarding the motivations for the claim, the entity’s communications once again highlighted the “no maintenance, total absence of demarcation, turned off and/or damaged lighting in the main accesses to cities, weeds that in many sectors prevent lateral visibility , poor signage, floodable sectors on rainy days, formation of gaps in the route, large wells and the repeated and unnecessary loss of lives in unfortunate and avoidable accidents (not accidents), among other arguments that clearly show a total abandonment of controls and compliance with the demands, stating that “traveling on rainy days or at night is directly suicidal. Paying the toll in that context is a mockery.” “We are not talking about just any route, we are talking about the main Mercosur route in our country and where the greatest commercial exchange takes place between the four member countries.”
Fragments of the notes addressed to the national authorities also refer to National Route 18, under construction to become a Highway since 2011 that should have been completed in 2014, and special mention of supposedly completed sections that today are irreparably damaged as is the case of the route between General Campos – San Salvador – Jubilee, a sector considered “a “cemetery” of tires, tires and a generator of serious accidents that repeat themselves day after day.” A special request was made to urgently evaluate whether the asphalt layer in said area was built under the appropriate specifications.
Another paragraph also refers to the section between Villaguay and Paraná, 150 kilometers where “the corresponding works have not yet been completed and for more than 13 years a road under construction has been dangerously traveled, with the serious risks that this entails (detours, breaks of asphalt, etc., etc.), added to the large number of trucks that travel along it in the direction of Rosario, Santa Fe or Córdoba.”
In this sense, the request made by the institution seeks that, as a matter of urgency, the corresponding measures be taken before the concessionaire, to proceed with the repair of the Artigas Highway and the repair and completion of Highway 18 to put an end to it once and for all. to the material losses and lives in these arteries.
Likewise, the claim was raised towards our provincial representation, the Economic Federation of Entre Ríos (FEDER), where the claim is generalized by all the representations of the affected cities.
