On Wednesday of this week, the Pacific 3, fourth-generation road concession, announced the official completion of its construction stage to give way to the operation and maintenance phase.
The project will connect Antioquia with the coffee axis, a key route for transportation to the interior of the country. Through the certificate of completion of the aforementioned phase, A section was delivered that includes 46 kilometers and includes the municipalities of La Felisa and La Pintada, both located in Caldas.
Henry Alberto Cárdenas, president of Fedetranscarga, said about this project that “every day that a road is completed in the country is very important, because within the structure a lot of employment and connectivity is generated between our regions, which is supremely important and essential for development.”
Cárdenas reported that, in addition to the advantages of mobility and job creation, The opening of this route in the Pacific shortens travel times by an hour and a half, on average 25% compared to the old corridors, which represents better logistics, because transporters will be able to reach the destination directly without the need to rest along the way.
This means that a trip from Medellín to Cali will no longer be almost eight hours, but will be reduced to just over six hours. The journey from the capital of Antioquia to Buenaventura, which today takes nine hours along the Tuluá – Cartago road, will be seven and a half hours.
And the journey to Manizales, which Today it takes more than four hours, now it will take just over three on the new road.
“On the roads, having a good road means having clear timing in commitments to transportation. We are no longer going to delay what we did before, taking into account that having a good road also means having good security,” explained the president of Fedetranscarga.
On the other hand, the president of the union stressed that, specifically, this route will make the mobilization of cargo, from the port of Buenaventura, be much more effective with delivery times, since it connects one of the most important ports in Colombia with the rest of the regions of the country, especially with Antioquia.
“The movement of cargo in the Pacific region belongs to Buenaventura and is extremely important for Colombia. “From Medellín to Buenaventura it would cut the time by a large amount and we could be more efficient,” Cardenas emphasized.
The union leader said that sometimes cargo transportation is “inefficient,” but everything is related to logistics, However, now with this opening, companies will be able to save up to 2% in costs, about $670,893 per trip, but, above all, in delivery times, “to leave the products on time even for the final consumer.” Andrés Chaves, former vice minister of Transportation, explained that this 145-kilometer project, They were improved with investments of $1.8 billion and their construction took into account the road safety needs of users.
46 Kilometers was the section that was delivered in the Cuarta Generación-Pacífico 3 road concession, in Caldas.
Greater performance with gasoline
Nidia Hernández Jiménez, executive president of Colfecar, explained that in this way, Monthly, it handles approximately 68,000 cargo trips with an estimated 720,000 tons.
Hernández explained that this area is mountainous and that “maximum slopes of 6% are achieved in the 146 kilometers, “Which is a feature that makes this road more efficient and safe, causing less effort for the cargo trucks that travel through this corridor, which represents less fuel and CO2 emissions.”
