QCOSTARICA — A loan for an amount of US$225 million with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was signed by President Rodrigo to conclude the road to San Carlos.
The loan signed last Friday would allow the government to complete the work that started some years ago and came to a standstill for lack of financing, will allow more competitiveness of the productive, agricultural and tourist sectors of the North Huetar region.
“Thanks to this loan, we can take the first big step to settle a pending debt with San Carlos, a canton that for more than four decades has received empty promises. As a government, we have the responsibility to make an efficient use of the resources that will be invested in this new road,” said Nogui Acosta, Minister of Finance.
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The new road to San Carlos, that connects to the Ruta 1, is made of four sections: the Exchange with Ruta 1, the central section Sifón – La Abundacia, the north section La Abundancia – Florencia, and the Radial to Ciudad Quesada.
“The bidding process will be done gradually and hope that the Comptroller General approves them,” said Luis Amador, Minister of Public Works and Transport, who is promising to finish the road by 2026, the end of the current government’s mandate.
“Once again, IDB supports Costa Rica,” said Francisco Javier Urra, representative of the IDB in Costa Rica, who explained that the loan is part of the financing cooperation agreement for both parties’ joint road infrastructure and urban mobility program.
The road to San Carlos has seen its share of roadblocks, starting with the abandoning of the country by Taiwan’s RSEA Engineering that oversaw the construction initially. The Taiwanese company left the country in 2007 after the government of Oscar Arias (2006-2010) cut diplomatic relations in favor of China.
A year later, works were awarded to local company Sánchez Carvajal.
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However, delays in expropriations, a lack of technical studies and legal challenges caused delays.
The project was indefinitely suspended in 2018 following an appeal from an environmental group saying that the highway endangered La Culebra wetland, a claim that was later dismissed.
Close to US$290 million dollars have been spent on the project so far, with only a few short kilometers of road between Florencia and Cuidad Quesada (north section) useable to vehicular traffic.
With the San Carlos highway project, Costa Rica is breaking all workd records, taking more than 50 years to build and delivering nothing.
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Read more: “Completed” and “Finished” Means Two Very Different Things In Costa Rica
It is also a record in the country, where major road construciton projects take about 30 years from start to, well, almost finish. An example is the Ruta 27, the San José – Caldera road.
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