The Minister of Public Works and Communications, Deligne Ascención, reported this Sunday that the final touches are being put on the La Ensenada-Villa Elisa highway, which connects the provinces of Puerto Plata and Montecristi, and which has a length of 23 kilometers, and whose investment cost is around RD$800 million.
The road, which is being paved at kilometer 17, Punta Rucia-El Tiburcio section, will have two lanes of 4.20 meters wide each, ditches on both sides, a 19+160 box girder bridge, with five culvert crossings.
It also features seven kilometers of sidewalks and curbs, soil stabilization along the entire route, and will have horizontal and vertical signage.
Ascención, accompanied by authorities from both provinces and the MOPC, carried out an inspection visit to evaluate and verify the progress made on the project.
“We are seeing the progress of the work that is being carried out and we are about to complete a request from the governors of Puerto Plata and Montecristi, due to a commitment from the President to these communities, who instructed us that we should provide a safe road between Villa Elisa and La Ensenada, in order to boost the tourism and agricultural development of the area,” he said.
He explained that the communities that connect the two provinces have waited for years for a solution to the problem of that road, which will soon become a reality.
“These communities, as they have testified to us for many years, waited for a solution, which has finally arrived, and we are just a few weeks away from being able to deliver a road with high standards of quality and safety, which will undoubtedly contribute to the development of one of the most beautiful areas in the Dominican Republic, such as Punta Rucia-La Ensenada,” the official highlighted.
A press release from the Communications and Press Department of Public Works states that Ascención announced that the Rancho Manuel and Estero Hondo highways will be ready by February of next year.
“We will be giving them an answer by February or earlier, and some of these problems that these areas have been requesting for years will already have a solution, which is part of a set of work that has been carried out through the MOPC,” he said.
Both the governor of Puerto Plata, Claritza Rochtte Peralta, and the governor of Montecristi, Nelsy Cruz Martínez, thanked President Abinader and Minister Ascención for bringing solutions to these communities, which had been neglected for years by previous governments.
Rochtte Peralta explained that the development La Ensenada has experienced despite the road being unfinished is evident. “We’ve seen the development that this community has undergone in recent days, even without the road being completed, and during our visits we see the amount of investment people are making in this area,” he stated.
The governor of Montecristi, Nelsy Cruz, said that the area that unites the two provinces was a place buried by previous governments, who had forgotten about those communities.
He explained that the government, through the MOPC, has built various projects in the province of Montecristi.
Community members say:
Juan Medina said that the Punta Rucia-La Ensenada highway was a lifelong dream for all the community members in the area, since it was burned down in the 1960s when the first government of Dr. Joaquín Balaguer and no government did anything about it in all these years.
“This reached an extreme where it was pure mud and impassable, but now there are no more potholes and the change is noticeable, among the communities that benefit from Punta Rucia-La Ensenada, Villa Elisa, Tuburcio, El Papayo, Agua de la Palma, as well as El Copey, Agua de Luis, Los Derramaderos,” Medina stated.
Marcia Basilio stated that the dust that enveloped the entire area was causing community members to suffer from permanent respiratory illnesses.
“We Christians were praying in a prayer chain and we said this is the one who will do it and it has been done, we give honor to God and thanks to the President who values the person,” he said.
In the community of Tiburcio, Célida Indiana Núñez expressed that for more than 20 years that road was a project awaited by all the community members.
The minister was accompanied by the vice minister of Works Supervision and Inspection, Roberto Herrera, the regional director of Cibao Norte, Basilio González, the director of Comipol, General Rafael Vásquez Espínola, among other officials.
