Via Cuenca-Molleturo is closed from this afternoon despite the disagreement of community members

BASIN

Starting at 5:00 p.m. this Wednesday, March 2, the Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme highway will be closed for 40 days for road repairs. According to the authorities of the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MTOP), this is the only solution, but this does not convince some authorities of the Molleturo parish for fear that its population will be left incommunicado and with limited access to basic services.

The closure of the main and shortest highway that connects the provinces of Azuay and Guayas will be “until Easter,” said the undersecretary of the MTOP, Luis Mario Barsallo.

During this time, the private company Sudinco will earn a directly awarded contract for $7,301,729 to stabilize and mitigate kilometer 49 of the aforementioned route. But to this will be added another million dollars that will be for the inspection process.

Today afternoon the machinery will be sent to the site and from the early hours of Thursday the works will begin that include aspects such as building safety berms along kilometer 49, building a crest gutter and a dynamic barrier.

A huge rock fell on km 58 of the Cuenca-Molleturo road

To prevent the inhabitants of this rural parish of Cuenca from being left without basic services, Barsallo said that an alternative road was rehabilitated crossing the Migüir-Río Blanco-San Pedro de Yumate sector, in addition, it is proposed to create an emerging pedestrian crossing to make transshipment, “as long as conditions help us”.

With the firm decision by the MTOP, those who are not totally in agreement are the leaders and authorities of Molleturo. The president of the parish government, Carlos Morales, maintained that they are not opposed to the improvements, but they do demand that the MTOP authorities comply with an agreement signed on January 17, which includes, among other issues, “filing the trial lifted to the mingueros”, “support in procedures to obtain credits with non-reimbursable funds” and “buy a road team for Molleturo”, of which, he affirmed, no progress has been made.

The leader described the closure of this route as a “threat”, but was cautious in saying whether or not they will allow it to be executed, although it was ratified when he said that they will leave more than 40 educational centers without face-to-face classes, without medical care or from the MIES , among other shortcomings.

Given this, Luis Mario Barsallo warned them: “Think carefully about what you are going to do, because we are determined to go all out, we cannot put the development of two such important provinces in the country at risk for three or four people,” and to They will rely on the police and military so that, according to their words, there are no problems.

Alternative for travelers

Once the Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme road is closed for 40 days, the alternative that travelers have is the Cuenca-Zhud-Cochancay-El Triunfo, which represents an additional 50 kilometers and an estimated travel time of one more hour. .

Here the claim of the interprovincial carriers is that the signaling from Azogues to Cochancay is deficient and that it is necessary to improve it due to a road safety issue.

Barsallo acknowledged that due to weather conditions they have not complied with the appropriate signage.

Regarding this issue, the mayor of Cuenca, Pedro Palacios, commented that by not having certainties about the time of the intervention of the MTOP, the situation becomes “more complex” and that is why he will meet with the president of the GAD Molleturo to seek actions. that allow connectivity to be improved “until it is taken care of once and for all, not through maintenance, but through long-term intervention.” (I)