Three proposals are analyzed for the rehabilitation of the Ibarra – San Lorenzo road, affected by landslides

Ibarra

This Tuesday the 18th, the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Marcelo Cabrera, paid a visit to the El Guadual sector, in Imbabura, where on December 21 two landslides obstructed a section of more than 170 meters and took away part of the table. of the Ibarra – San Lorenzo road.

The official’s visit represents a halo of tranquility for the inhabitants of the communes surrounding the area, who had various complications to move for more than three weeks.

The natural event isolated approximately 40,000 inhabitants of the parishes of La Carolina and Buenos Aires (Imbabura), Jijón and Caamaño and El Goaltal (Carchi), and Alto Tambo (Esmeraldas) for 25 days, leaving considerable losses due to the suspension of mobility. .

After the inspection, three proposals emerged: to build a road parallel to the current one in the sector, prior to the updated geophysical and surface studies to be carried out this week, which will make it possible to find out if the rock on the slope at kilometer 114 is compact.

Carry out a terracing depending on the geological conditions of the slope to later carry out the rehabilitation, or place a bayley bridge once the report on the soil is delivered.

Minister Cabrera announced that all the studies will allow immediate intervention, committing himself by the end of this month to have a clear picture of the works that will be carried out.

Until then, the vehicles continue to circulate along a platform of this narrow artery, with obvious risks, since when buses or trucks travel there are movements, there is the fear that the landslides will reactivate or that this part of the road will give way.

Pablo Jurado, prefect of Imbabura, said that the land transfers recorded at kilometer 114 have generated discomfort and desperation in the productive and tourist sectors of the besieged parishes in the three provinces that were the ones that felt the damage.

However, he called on the users of this artery to take the corresponding precautions when passing through this natural fault that is under a rock, from which rocks could fall. “That recklessness does not lead us to lose lives,” he added.

Meanwhile, Carlos Viteri, president of the GAD of Alto Tambo, stated that the problem not only affected his parish but also San Lorenzo and the coastal towns of Esmeraldas.

For José Cortés, president of the Alto Tambo Parish Board, during these 25 days that there was no passage, products such as naranjilla, cassava, banana, papaya, among others, were damaged, with unquantifiable losses.

Arturo Fuentes, Governor of Imbabura, expressed his satisfaction that Minister Marcelo Cabrera arrived at the scene, spoke with the people, listened to the technical explanations and provided immediate alternative solutions. (I)