They extend closure for two months

The National Highway Institute, Invías, decided to extend the closing hours of the Calarcá – Cajamarca highway, which runs between 2:00 pm and 06:00 am the next day, for the next two months. The passage for private vehicles is totally restricted.

The closure occurred on December 2 after a collapse occurred in the vicinity of one of the short tunnels being built in the area.

Individuals must travel through the Alto de Letras, while heavy vehicles will have a specific time to move: between 6 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.

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Regarding this, Juan Esteban Gil, director of Invías, stated that “the stabilization work of the slope that the technicians, engineers and workers of the Institute have been carrying out at night will continue to the extent that the weather conditions and the slope behavior thus allow it. “

The rains of the last few days caused the saturation of the soil on the Bellavista slope, precisely where Invías had been carrying out stabilization works since last October.

For her part, Ángela María Orozco, Minister of Transport, affirmed that the commitment and work of the Invías engineers and operators have allowed important advances to overcome the emergency in the corridor.

“However, there are still conditions that put the safety of users at risk, so we decided to extend the preventive closure in order to provide a definitive solution that allows the safe restoration of traffic through this strategic route,” he said.

According to Invías, at least 75,000 cubic meters must be removed and in addition, works must be carried out for the technical treatment that facilitates the stabilization of the slope.

“This makes it a highly complex job that requires guaranteeing the highest security conditions for users of the corridor, as well as for Invías staff,” they pointed out.

It should be remembered that during the past week, the workers completed the opening of the alternate road that allows them to reach the crown of the Bellavista slope to begin their intervention, starting this Wednesday. The rocky material that fell on tunnel 16 was also removed and the area has been monitored.