SANTO DOMINGO.- The Minister of Public Works and Communications, Deligne Ascención, announced yesterday the launch of a comprehensive program for the reconstruction and expansion of the 6 de Noviembre highway, which will include the application of 459,900 square meters of 4-inch hot asphalt concrete throughout the road, and milling 2 to 6 inches of asphalt over 57,100 square meters.
Ascención highlighted that the work also includes widening all bridges on this important road from 4 to 6 lanes, as well as the construction of five operational return lanes, and the closure of illegal crossings.
He also announced that two motorcycle-pedestrian bridges will be built at the intersection of 6 de Noviembre and the extension of Avenida 27 de Febrero, completing the northeast cloverleaf at the intersection with the Santo Domingo ring road, as well as the access to the Hatillo intersection.
“Likewise, the 21 kilometers of this road will be illuminated in both directions to ensure the safety of its users, where important industrial and commercial companies and human settlements have been established,” a press release highlights.
He said that the 6 de Noviembre highway, which connects Greater Santo Domingo with 10 provinces in the South and Southwest regions, registers an average annual daily traffic of 294,942 vehicles each year.
“From 2021 to 2022, an average of 172 people died in traffic accidents, and 195 were injured, with an economic loss to the country of $115.60 million,” he explained.
The main causes of this level of insecurity on this important road are the bottleneck of four to six lanes of traffic on the bridges over Haina, Itabo, Nigua, and Yubazo. Other contributing factors include illegal crossings, a lack of pedestrian and motorcycle crossings, speeding, inadequate lighting and road signs, among others, according to a press release from the agency.
"In order to carry out all these works, the MOPC completed one hundred percent of the topographic survey, traffic and road safety studies, geotechnical studies for the pavement design, including deflectometry, in addition to completing the geotechnical studies on the Itabo, Nigua and Yubazo bridges," the press document elaborates.
Likewise, 50% of those studies are still pending on the bridge over the Haina River, and work is also underway on drainage studies for the entire length of the highway, as well as land management or expropriation studies, among others.
