Monday 08 December
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Interamerican
Norte To Be Four Lanes
Annual Teletón Beats
Goal
Only 134.000
Marchamos Paid So Far
Christmas Lottery
This Sunday, Lottery Officials Expecting
Sales To Heat Up
Marathon Creates Traffic Nightmare In
Downtown Core
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Interamericana Norte
To Be Four Lanes
The Interamericana
Norte, the main highway
that connects San José
to Guanacaste and the
Nicaraguan border will
become a four lane
highway from the present
two once approved by
legislators. The
financing for the work
will come from a credit
line by the Banco
Interamericano de
Desarrollo (BID).
The bank loan is us$850
million dollars. The
project will be
completed in four phases
that will run from
Esparza (east of
Puntarenas) and Peñas
Blancas at the
Nicaraguan border.
The first draw of us$300
million dollars will be
used for the first of
phase, the 60 kilometre
stretch between Liberia
and Cañas.
Karla González, the
ministra de Obras
Públicas y Transportes
said that in addition to
the four lanes, the
highway will also
include bays for buses
to make their stops, a
pedestrian and bicycle
path. The minister added
that ther project will
commence as soon as
legislators give
approval as there is no
need for expropriations.
The second phase of the
project will be from
Barranca-Arizona (Abangares);
Arizona-Cañas and
Liberia-Peñas Blancas.
Involved in the project
will also be the
municipalities affected
by the road widening,
the ministries of
Hacienda, Planificación
and the Central Bank.
The loan agreement by
the BID is already in
the hands of legislators
who have to ratify the
terms before the bank
can begin to hand out
the funds.
The BID loan is the
largest credit in the
history of the country
and is repayable over a
twenty five year period
with a five year grace.
Guillermo Zúñiga,
ministro de Hacienda,
said that the government
has to pat itself on the
back for negotiating
such a large amount and
that, in addition, it
was negotiated without
having to pay a
commission to third
parties, which can be
between 0.25% and 0.75%
of such amounts. |
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