MTI Projects; last Friday, the 16th of July, 2021 was the official inauguration of the new 58 meter long Cárdenas Bridge spanning the Rio Cárdenas and connecting the town to the rest of Rivas. It is estimated that up to 11,000 residents of Rivas will benefit from the bridge construction, including; agricultural producers, local merchants, students, workers and tourists visiting the area.
This bridge maintains the only road link from Cárdenas to the Carretera NIC-66 which runs east to west following the lake shore from the intersection or “empalme” at Sapoa (on the Pan American Highway 2.5 kilometers north of the Peñas Blancas border) to Colón, a route of 54 kilometers.
Óscar Mojica, the head of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI by its acronym in Spanish) took the opportunity of the inauguration of the new bridge (and a good crowd on the long weekend of the July 19th activities) to announce that two more MTI projects will be completed in the coming months and one big one will begin.
Colón
The MTI head confirmed that in August, the long awaited 37 kilometer extension of Route NIC-66 from Cárdenas to Colón will be finished.
Pan-Am Highway
Mojica said that over the coming months, they will be completing the widening of the Pan American Highway from Sapoá – Peñas Blancas. This expansion project that is creating 2 lanes in each direction includes 6 new bridges to deal with rainy season water levels.
Ochomogo Bridge to Las Salinas
Mojica also announced the start of construction of the road from the Ochomogo Bridge to Las Salinas on the Pacific coast. The MTI head assured that the project will begin in September of this year. This route will be a huge boost for tourism and producers in the area and create a more direct route for traffic to and from Managua and the international airport to the popular beach communities in the Popoyo area.
