The government has invested US$135 million in the II Metro line and in the Duarte Corridor

SANTO DOMINGO. The work carried out so far in the second Metro line of Santo Domingo as well as the Duarte Corridor, have cost the state some US$135 million, according to the official numbers that are provided by the entities that are responsible for the execution of the projects.

The Metro, whose startup surprised the population at a time when the government itself was saying that they were only carrying out soil studies, already has spent US$35 million of the budget, according to a report from the Office for the Reorganization of Transportation (OPRET), the entity charged with carrying out the project.

The other US$100 million were spent by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) for the amount of work carried out in the tunnels and overpasses that make up the Duarte Corridor Project. This was reported by Miguel Angel Logroño, the engineer and director general of Planning and Programming for the MOPC.

Since the middle of March 2008, the "soils studies" began for the second Metro line. The work has concentrated on the drilling of the tunnel, which, according to Opret, now has a length of three kilometers and ties four stations together.

These stations are the ones that belong to the intersections of John F. Kennedy with Lope de Vega, Lincoln, Ortega y Gasset and Maximo Gomez, in the Olympic Center.

In these stations, the same as in the station on Luperon Avenue, the placement of beams, columns and concrete walls that support the walls of the viaduct can be observed.

In spite of the advanced that are evidenced by the work, these represent less than 5% of the US$790 million that, according to the Opret director Diandino Peña, the first phase of the project will cost. The project extends from Los Alcarrizos to the Francisco del Rosario Sanchez Bridge (the 17). The complete project of the second Metro line goes from Los Alcarrizos to San Isidro, and according to statements by Peña, the total cost will be US$1.58 billion.

The work on the Metro is being carried out with state funding due to the failure of the government to obtain an overseas concessionaire.

In December of 2008, Opret published a tender offer for the concession of the project and 12 companies, fused into three conglomerates, presented proposals, but these were never solidified. In July of this year, Mr. Peña himself said that the tender had been declared to be null and void, due to the "limitations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)". Already since the middle of 2009 they had said that the negotiations had slowed down because of the international economic crisis.

In the middle of this year, a tender was also announced for the placement of the rails of the metro system, and according to the statements by the engineer, Leonel Carrasco, who is the Opret assistant director, 8 firms have registered, but none have delivered a proposal yet.

Corridor schedule

With one of the eight projects that make up the program inaugurated, another two nearly finished and the remaining ones all started, the Duarte Corridor has consumed 50% of its budget, which was initially placed at US$204 million, according to the engineer Logroño.

The amount invoiced up until now by the contractors includes the work on the John F. Kennedy overpass at Nuñez de Caceres, inaugurated last Friday, 13 August, although there is still work to be completed on the underside, such as the drainage tunnels and pavement.

The overpasses at 27 de Febrero and Ortega y Gasset is nearly ready, and has been paved and painted. According to Logroño, in September they will also open the overpass at John F. Kennedy and Dr. Defillo. At this overpass all of the columns have been installed and in the month remaining until its opening, the placement of beams and the completion of the access ramps are planned. In the meantime, work continues on the drainage and repaving in the lower part, which will take a month more.

In the case of the overpass at Nuñez y Caceres, they are working on drainage now as well as in the repaving of the roadway, all of which will be ready by September, according to Logroño.

The Duarte Corridor also includes elevated portions of the Duarte Highway with the Monumental Avenue and at the entrance to Manoguayabo, which as of now have the piles driven, as a step forward, given that the programming has set their startup for the end of this year and completion by the end of next year.

Another overpass is the one at the intersection of the Charles de Gaulle and San Isidro avenues, where they are working on the relocation of the pipes and the construction of some supports. It is planned that the project will take at least a year to finish due to the limitations that are caused by three high tension electricity towers that are in the way.

"We are receiving posts and other materials for the high tension electric lines that are in the direct path and that will be relocated. Once this is done, we can begin work on the pilings for the overpass. This is a job that will take about a year, basically because of the relocation of the existing services", Logroño indicated.

The corridor also includes two tunnels of the trench-type, or open air, at the intersections of the 27 de Febrero Avenue with Nuñez y Caceres and at Dr. Defillo, with lengths of 400 and 600 meters respectively.

In both of these projects, which were begun last May, work is being done on the removal of soil, but Logroño estimates that they will be ready by the end of next year.

"By the end of next year, at the latest, the Duarte Corridor will be finished and with it a big blow will be delivered to resolve the problems of traffic in the capital, because it will permit traffic flow along the express lanes", the official stressed.

Besides the overpass, the intersection of Ortega y Gasset and 27 de Febrero will be the beginning point of several complementary projects, incuding the 1.5 kilometer tunnel that goes from there to the Santo Tomas de Aquino Street at the corner of Jose Contreras, in the vicinity of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD).

The tunnel, whose excavations reach to the northern part of 27 de Febrero, add an additional US$70 million to the original budget of the Corridor project. In order to speed up the job and to finish it by 2012, as is foreseen, the excavations will be started soon on Jose Contreras, in order to work from both ends at the same time, it was reported.

At the intersection they are also working on the construction of a tunnel that will allow a left turn from Ortega y Gasset onto 27 de Febrero, as well as a pedestrian bridge. It is expected that both of these projects will be finished between March and April 2011.

Diario Libre