The new unit, tasked with monitoring and supervising the main roads in order to eliminate irregular constructions of homes, businesses, informal crossings or other works that may cause accidents on these important roads, managed to stop, notify, dismantle and/or demolish 381 works.
SANTO DOMINGO.- The Road Rights Control Unit (Codevial), attached to the Military and Police Commission (Comipol) of the Ministry of Public Works, reported that it demolished or dismantled 114 constructions that violated the right of way on roads in different parts of the country.
The legislation establishes that margins of 20, 30 and 40 meters must be left on both sides of roads or highways, depending on whether they are main roads, secondary roads, or local roads.
The entity designated to oversee compliance with the measure stated that of the total, 22 projects had been built in the North region; 11 in the East, 80 on the Santo Domingo Ring Road, and one in the Northeast.
Likewise, the director of Comipol, General Rafael Vásquez Espínola, said that 155 works were paralyzed, 59 of them in the North region, 29 in the South, 31 in the East, 10 on the Santo Domingo Ring Road, 19 in the Northeast, and seven on the Ecological Avenue.
He also explained that 37 illegal access points to the roads were closed, which in one way or another significantly impacted the number of traffic accidents.
“Of those irregular crossings, 19 were on the Duarte Highway, one in the eastern part of the country, five in the south, three on the Santo Domingo Ring Road, and nine in the northeast,” he said.
Regarding the works notified in writing through a legal form, Codevial , since its creation on March 7 to date this year, has a total of 60, with the Cibao region having the highest number with 20, the South with 14 and the East and Northeast with 13 each.
In total, this new unit, called upon to monitor and supervise the main roads in order to eliminate irregular constructions of homes, businesses, informal crossings or other works that may cause accidents on these important roads, managed to stop, notify, dismantle and/or demolish 381 works.
Vásquez Espínola specified that, within the works that were stopped and notified through forms, some measures were taken, managing to get some owners to abandon the works, others managed their permits provided by law or proceeded to make the corrective measures of the place.
“In many cases, the demolition of the structures was carried out because the owners, despite being notified in writing, did not comply with the authorities' call,” he stated.
The official stated that through Codevial, with the work of 100 properly trained men, they have managed to reclaim spaces on the margins of roads and highways.
The law
According to an institutional note, “the creation of this unit has been an important step in compliance with Law 1474-38 and its modifications, which regulates construction on main roads, sets its margins and establishes that the right of way is the space that is reserved for future expansions, construction of marginal roads or any type of intervention that warrants it.”.
In its actions, Codevial seeks compliance with the legislation, which establishes that for construction margins of 20, 30 and 40 meters must be left on both sides of the roads or highways, depending on whether they are trunk roads, secondary roads, or local roads.
