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New attempt launched
for Caldera highway


By José Pablo Ramírez Vindas
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff


The government is trying again to get a highway constructed between Ciudad Colón and Caldera on the Pacific.

An agreement was signed Thursday that empowers the firm Autopista del Sol S.A to build the highway and collect tolls to pay for it over the next 25 years.

The Consejo Nacional de Concesiones is involved in the agreement as is the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transporte. Autopista is a creation of two Spanish firms, a Costa Rican company and a Portuguese entity.

The concession contract covers 76.8 kms. The highway will cost $150 million to build. The deal still needs approval of the Contraloria General de la República. Tolls are estimated to be in the $3 range. Seven toll plazas will be constructed.

The new road, when finished is expected to provide an economic boost to the area, and it will cut down travel time from west San José to the central Pacific beaches.

The concession also includes work on the highway that runs along the south side of Parque La Sabana and additional work on the highway to Ciudad Colón. From there, three lanes will be constructed to Orotina and then to Caldera. Bridges already are in place and have been for four years.

The problems in the past have been getting the appropriate approvals.

5 years to 10 years.
It'll take about the same time to finish the road, as it'll take Muffdiver to remove the smile from his face after he returns from CR!

Based upon my last three trips to Jaco and Quepos I would say that 5-10 years is an optimistic prediction

San José - Caldera Highway Contract Signed, But Will Road Be Finally Built
Here we go again, with another attempt to complete the Caldera - San José highway, a project that has been in the planning for almost 20 years and has been jump started a number of times.

With great fanfare, the Consejo Nacional de Concesiones (CNC) del MOPT and the international consortium Autopistas del Sol S.A. signed the agreement that would retake the construction of the road.

The deal calls for the consortium to put out the us$150 million dollars it will take to finish the project and recover the investment by charging a toll of us$2.70 (¢1.360 colones). The deal says that is the cost is lower, the toll charge will also be lowered.

If all goes according to plan, construction should start by November or December, after the end of the rainy season and should be finished by the end of 2007 or middle of 2008, depending on many factors.

Autopistas de Sol is made of FCC Construcción and Itinere Infraestructura from Spain, Soares Da Costa Concessões from Portugal and Costa Rica's Corporación M&S Internacional.

The road will commence at the west end of the Sabana Park and will end at Caldera, south of Puntarenas for a total of 77 kilometres that would take only 1 hour to travel. The current time to travel to Caldera by either the Orotina route or the Interamerican by Puntarenas is about two hours.

The new road will incorporate the section that is now known as the Fernando Prospero that run from the Sabana to Santa Ana and continue to Cuidad Colon, Orotina and through to Caldera.

The first attempt at building the road was n 2002 when the Argentinina-Costa Rican consortium Cartellone Acosol fell apart. The next attempt was in 2004 by the Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin, when the company pulled out of the project.

Last year, negotiations between the government and Autopistas del Sol began and the agreement was finally signed yesterday.

The plans to build the road began in 1978.

Construction of Road to Caldera To Begin on January 17
The construction of the San José-Caldera highway which is three decades in the making, will begin on January 17, 2008, the ministro de la Presidencia, Rodrigo Arias, announced yesterday.

Arias assures that all is set for the construction of the road is to begin, as the us$230 million dollars financing and the approval by the Contraloría General de la República (Comptroller's office) are all in place.

Last November 29, the Contraloría endorsed the contract the government has with Autopistas del Sol, a consortium of Spanish, Portugue and Costa Rican interests.

Arias added that the contract calls for the completion of the 77 kilometre road by 2010 and is being financed by the Caja de Madrid and the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE).

Autopistas has a 25 years and six months concession to recover its us$230 million dollar investment.

The new road would cut travel between San José, Caldera, Puntarenas to 30 minutes instead of the now 90 minutes, and cut in half the travel time to Playa Jacó and points in between.

The five bridges between Cuidad Colón and Orotina were built and inaugurated during the Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (1998-2002) administration.