Danger and abandonment in a million-dollar project stopped in the south of the province

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The rain and wind storm of recent days in the south of the province aggravated the situation on Route 8, especially at the intersection with A005, where the highway between Río Cuarto and Santa Catalina (Holmberg) was left unfinished. It is a project worth more than $8.6 billion that is in charge of the company Luciano SA. According to the CGT Río Cuarto, days before the inauguration of Javier Milei as president, and given the advance that the public works would be stopped, the firm He fired 50 workers and relocated another fifty workers to a provincial construction site.

The route between Río Cuarto and Holmberg is about eight kilometers long, it is considered “a funnel” because the international traffic of routes 8, 158, 36, A005 and 35 converge there, in addition to the daily urban movement of the Gran Río Cuarto .

According to information from the municipality of Holmberg, the first plans to join Río Cuarto with a dual carriageway were made in National Highway 53 years ago. Then the jobs were promised by all governments, and even announced several times. More than 45 people, of different ages, died in different road accidents, and the promises were never fulfilled.

Cross routes 8 and A005. Work paralyzed months ago near Río Cuarto (Tomy Fragueiro/La Voz).

After some failed tenders, Luciano SA began building a 7.3-kilometer stretch of highway in 2021. It had a completion deadline until early 2023. In July, delays were attributed to problems with Epec’s power lines and Ecogas pipes and, Gradually, machinery and personnel were no longer seen at the crossroads.

According to the Mapa Inversiones Argentina page, of the Ministry of Public Works of the Nation, the national route 8 highway has a physical progress of 82.73% and a financial progress of 68%.

“What remains of the highway is very little, access on route A005 and a roundabout near Rural de Río Cuarto (near Sabattini Avenue), but after the elections the company concluded the Uocra contracts, due to Milei’s statements,” said Ricardo Magallanes, from the CGT Río Cuarto.

Cross routes 8 and A005. Work paralyzed months ago near Río Cuarto (Tomy Fragueiro/La Voz).

The union leader added: “This situation is worrying. All the works that have been started and are not finished can be prosecuted, we are going to get into serious trouble if they do not comply. In addition, there are works financed by external agents. We see a very dark outlook, I hope we are wrong.”

“Today is no man’s land”

After the rains of the previous week and complaints from neighbors, this Wednesday a motor grader was seen covering some dirt pits at the access to Río Cuarto. But motorists protested the lack of signage, delays and the risk of accidents.

So much waiting for a highway and we are worse than before. It is a suffering to navigate these days, the pitted gravel accesses, without signage, because with the wind all the indicators, the cones, the pieces of cement that delimited the hands were moved. It is a total risk and the traffic does not stop,” said Mariela Grassi, producer and representative of the Rural Society of Río Cuarto.

He explained that the new section parallel to Route 8 is not enabled, vehicles must continue traveling on the old road and all accesses to the city of Río Cuarto are practically impassable. “They have to give priority to this work no matter what because of the risk of accidents. A work so big was planned that it was left half done. There is no lighting, it is a disaster. If no one takes charge, access to Río Cuarto will be cut off at any time,” he warned.

Cross routes 8 and A005. Work paralyzed months ago near Río Cuarto (Tomy Fragueiro/La Voz).

In the same sense, Manuel Ron, from Bio 4, said: “All companies in the area are very worried, the possibility of accidents is enormous, there is a lane that is not enabled and people circulate the same. At five to eight, when there is peak traffic, it is chaotic, in terms of signage, prevention, today it is no man’s land.” “We have complained to Roads and the construction company, but we did not have any response,” he said.

“It seems that this work is cursed, it was waited so many years… I know that there were problems with a high tension cable and some of the gas and it stopped at that moment. We Argentines are always punished by laziness. For me, political actions were lacking for things to end and now the economic situation is critical. But it is a strong work for Río Cuarto, the southern entrance is the worst the city has. We have to make the effort to finish it,” said Guillermo Pedruzzi, engineer and creator of the Leonardo Da Vinci school, close to the road junction.

Neighbors of Holmberg noted that the tendered and unfinished work of the highway between Río Cuarto and Holmberg only solved part of the problem, because it barely reached the Arsenal Battalion and traffic along the only avenue that crosses the town will continue to be chaotic if not a ring road is made.

Cross routes 8 and A005. Work paralyzed months ago near Río Cuarto (Tomy Fragueiro/La Voz).