After 25 years of concession, as of May 1, 2023, the Palín-Escuintla highway was toll-free, since on April 30 of that year, the company Marhnos Guatemala stopped managing it and it remained in the hands of the State for contract expiration.
Therefore, this will be the first high season for travelers during Lent and Easter with this route without tolls and with regulations by the State, through the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV).
Initially, the previous government established that cargo traffic could pass except six axles, however, it reversed that measure on May 8, allowing its circulation as long as the regulation that establishes weights and dimensions is complied with.
More traffic
The vehicle increase is around 60%, commented Sandro Testelli, president of Marhnos Guatemala when asked about traffic through the place, after the concession and toll collection has ended. During the concession, the historical traffic average was 22 thousand vehicles per day and currently it is 32 thousand to 35 thousand, in regular seasons, commented the executive.
“There was a radical change (in vehicular traffic) due to the fact that the highway was freed from toll collection. This in some way does generate an inertia, natural within what is the average daily traffic, when we did see a vehicle increase of approximately 60%,” he commented.
Separately, during the last Holy Week with the highway concession, in 2023, the average reached 32 thousand vehicles per day, when the concessionaire structure still existed, with quotas and rates.
For Easter 2024, it could increase between 15% or 20% (between 4,800 to 6,400 more vehicles) so it is estimated that it would be between 36,800 to 38,400.
For that season “we see that there is a significant increase, especially in light vehicles, due to the tourist part on the highway, which can increase in the order of 15% to 20% (compared to the regular season).” In addition, you must be attentive to government regulations regarding specific time restrictions for the transit of heavy vehicles for the movement of cargo.
Testelli says that the ministry must be very attentive to the fact that it will receive a significant flow of vehicles, to cover safety aspects for users.
Vehicle type and maintenance
The executive explained that in general they observe that there is a significant increase in heavy traffic, since the road offer that the highway offers to this type of vehicles avoids traveling through Escuintla and some urban roads.
When asked about how this change in the type of traffic influences road conditions, he explained that a highway having adequate maintenance and behavior in accordance with different indicators requires addressing the issues of heavy traffic with control of weights and dimensions. that would need to be implemented, especially so that the behavior of the route over time has optimal visibility.
He explained that currently “there is a certain lightness in terms of vehicle control on the highway, especially heavy vehicles” and he considers that it could be a very negative effect on the behavior of that road over time.
Regarding how often this highway should be maintained, he said that it depends a lot on two variables: the level of service and the level of traffic. And once they have been identified, certain technical models are run and interventions are defined.
For example, if it has to be every two, four or six years to be in a regulatory standard, and you consider that the CIV has to be very active regarding what may happen with the highway from now on, taking into account the increase of transit through the place.
CIV estimates and actions
The daily average in the regular season would be in the range of 24 thousand to 28 thousand vehicles, and during Holy Week it could reach ranges of 35 thousand to 50 thousand vehicles “especially on Thursday, when people go to the beaches, and on Sunday, when they return”, so the road care process is coordinated with Provial.
As a result, the ministry seeks the best conditions for accident prevention through the National Prevention System during Holy Week (Sinaprese) and road streamlining that includes protection for the population, he added.
Regarding the maintenance that will be given to that road, it was indicated that the dynamics of renewal of the ministry’s units has generated a more active participation of the road areas that is strengthened in cleaning and patching of routes in the country and the case of that highway, among others, is considered a high priority.
Additionally, a work plan is prepared to establish priority signage, intense flooding and potholes at relevant tourism points, in coordination with the Guatemalan Tourism Institute (Inguat) and in coordination with other entities.
Heavy transport
Separately, the Guatemalan Logistics Guild (GLG) attached to the Guatemalan Chamber of Industry (CIG) and the Extraurban Passenger Transport Guild (Gretexpa) comment on the behavior of heavy transport and agree on the need for surveillance. road and pay attention to the maintenance of routes in general, including the highway.
About 13,000 legally registered and registered extra-urban passenger transport units circulate in regular seasons, and although during Lent the movement remains similar, for Easter a 23% increase is estimated, reaching between 15,000 and 16,000, explains Carlos. Vides, president of Gretexpa.
It is estimated that about 7 thousand buses, of those registered, operate towards the South Coast from different points, mainly for trips to beaches and tourist sites. However, he also warned that pirate vehicles travel in the country.
Vides states that the respective authorities and the Traffic Department of the National Civil Police (PNC) must establish greater surveillance in general, but especially on the highway because it will have a high vehicle load for the time, which may be greater than other years because it is already no toll is paid.
Other areas that affect transportation for the South Coast is the problem that originated at kilometer 17.5 of the route to the Pacific.
In this regard, Héctor Fajardo, general director of the Chamber of Central American Transporters (Catransca) mentions that since they removed the charge at the checkpoints there is more vehicle load and the flow through the place has improved, but agrees with Vides that precisely because of this increase in vehicle load there could be difficulties in transit, such as slowness in passage, lines and accidents, so it is necessary to provide good maintenance to the road.
He expressed that after the sentry boxes were removed, the passage along the highway remained irregular and for the safety of traffic and care of the infrastructure, adequate work and maintenance is needed.
Logistics
Meanwhile, Francisco Toruño, president of the Logistics Guild of Guatemala, which is part of CIG, explained that during Holy Week, heavy transportation traffic is regularly restricted in the country so the distribution chain, including the industry and Commerce is planned in advance to anticipate transportation and supply to businesses. In addition, obtaining permits for free transit on those days for transporting products such as food, beverages and fuel has been quite agile.
Derived from the restrictions that are regularly established and advance planning, from four weeks before Easter there is a growth in supply from production and import of products to distribution.
It is estimated that in general on the different routes in the country this growth will be 20% to 25%, and taking into account that this year Holy Week is at the end of March, so the greatest movement will be observed throughout the month, general level, which can also be observed on the Palín Escuintla Highway.
“For the purposes of cargo transportation as such, it is a route that was not used so frequently, but now it has been seen that it is a high-use route and the concern is the maintenance of the road and how long it would be without. correct maintenance,” said the GLG executive.
He added that the large influx of heavy transportation and the free movement of people are risks that this route did not have such a high risk previously. “The impact is on the general population who, after having had a safer route, now live with that mixture.”
Pending process
The president of Marhnos explained that the contractual commitment included the last major maintenance of the highway, which consisted of overhauling the 29 kilometers north-south and south-north, in addition to attending to the horizontal and vertical signaling distributors, which gave this space through an official letter from the General Directorate of Highways (DGC) to deliver the work on December 30, 2023.
According to the executive, this phase was carried out and all the work was delivered on time and completed on December 27 of last year.
However, he assures that this commitment does not include the removal of the sentry boxes, and that as of May 1 of last year it was already the power of the State and a responsibility of the CIV. He added that at that time, the government administration and the ministry decided to hire another company and awarded it the contract to remove the sentry boxes.
They are currently in the definition with the authorities of said ministry to align the entire legal and technical context of the two components, that is, what corresponds to the responsibility and scope of Marhnos Guatemala and the decision of the CIV regarding the removal of the sentry boxes. .
To date, the reversal process has not been completed since the validation phase of the technical and legal part is missing, although the files are validated and reviewed by the ministry’s specialists and lawyers, so it is expected that this phase of the process in two weeks.
The new government raised doubts regarding the non-compliance with the removal of the toll booths, but last week it filed a complaint with the Public Ministry against the company Moca Construction, since that company would be responsible for the demolition of the toll booths on the highway and laying the asphalt in place. According to Guatecompras, the sentry box demolition service was awarded for Q893,224.
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