COSTA RICA NEWS – The new road to Monteverde will be ready in early 2016, confirmed the manager of Construction of Road Bridges at the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (CONAVI), Cristian Vargas.
According to Vargas, the first phase of construction started last May with the movement of land to expand the width of the road that weaves through mountainous terrain. The budget for this phase is ¢970 million colones.
The second phase will begin as soon as the Contraloría General de la República (Comptroller General) approves the addendum for the ¢1.5 billion cost, for infrastructure like storm drains, sewers and embankments. The money is coming from the CONAVI budget.
According to Vargas, the third phase, the paving of the 18 kilometres of road linking the tourist communities of Guacimal, Guaria, La Lindora, Santa Elena and Monteverde, could start by the middle of next year, with a six month construction time. The cost of the third phase is ¢6.1 billion colones.
In total, the CONAVI will be spending ¢8.570 billion colones to build the new road, that residents of Monteverde and surrounding communities have been fighting for the last 15 years.
The new road will allow greater accessibility to the area and is expected to spur development of tourism projects.
