Sopocachi: new viaduct is ready and will decongest 4 roads

Luis Escobar / La Paz

The Belisario Salinas street viaduct is ready and with its operation it will decongest at least four routes in the center of Sopocachi in La Paz. The Mayor’s Office will deliver this work today, at 19:00, and tomorrow it will be enabled for vehicular traffic.

“The traffic jams are over,” said Alberto Flores, a minibus driver who makes the trip to the southern zone. “There were months of enormous trancaderas and laps. Finally, the streets will be more expeditious, ”he assured.

With the opening of the tunnel, the vehicles that pass through the Twin Bridge will be able to go directly to the Belisario Salinas and avoid the avenues 20 de Octubre and 6 de Agosto to connect directly with the Sánchez Lima. A journey that, according to the Mayor’s Office, can be done in two minutes and not in 10, as was the case before. Although some drivers -such as Carlos Camacho- indicated that they waited longer. “During peak hours it was almost impossible to get through both lanes,” he said.

In addition, Pedro Salazar will return to its original direction of descent and will allow drivers who are in Sopocachi to reach Plaza Isabel la Católica more easily.

The Secretary of Mobility, Enrique Villanueva, added that with these modifications, the Bridge of the Americas will once again be one-way: “It will be one way towards Miraflores, since its pair of roads, which is the Twin Bridge, will allow the reverse connection. From Miraflores the vehicles will enter the Belisario Salinas Viaduct to exit onto Sánchez Lima Avenue after crossing (underneath) the intersections of 6 de Agosto and 20 de Octubre Avenues,” he said.

Another change is the direction of circulation on Arce Avenue, which will once again be -as it was before the construction of the viaduct- uphill. In addition, from 6 de Agosto and 20 de Octubre avenues you can enter Belisario Salinas over the viaduct to reach Ecuador avenue.

The streets that will be two-way are: Presbítero Medina, up to Pedro Salazar; the Méndez Arcos from Plaza España to Plaza Salvador Andrew; and the lower part that borders the Plaza Isabel la Católica, starting at the conclusion of Pedro Salazar street up to the height of the Las Torres mall.

All road changes will be enabled from tomorrow at 6:00. “A simultaneous change has not been made to prevent accidents,” Villanueva explained yesterday in relation to the inauguration of the viaduct that will take place today at 7:00 p.m.

The work began to be built in March 2020 and the viaduct began on June 26 of that year. The building should have been delivered on May 1 and for this delay the company was fined.

Three murals for the viaduct

To give more life to the tunnel, artists painted three murals that portray 12 species – among amphibians, birds and mammals – in danger of extinction. This work covers an area of ​​135 meters and can be seen from tonight.

“There are 12 species, including amphibians, birds and mammals to show people that we live or used to live with these species and that it depends on all of us to make them our neighbors again,” said one of the project coordinators, Alvin Huayllas.

The artist explained that the murals will be like a mosaic of pieces that “will depend on the citizens, destroy them or rejoin them to make a community.” “Not just with each other, but with all of nature,” he said.

The characteristics

• Construction site The viaduct is 245 meters long and the distance of the tunnel is 135. The vehicular passage was executed from Hermanos Manchego street to Sánchez Lima. It will allow the relief of Avenida 6 de Agosto and Avenida 20 de Octubre, which were very congested during peak hours
• Time According to the Mayor’s Office of La Paz, this new work will reduce vehicular circulation between Miraflores and Sopocachi from 10 to just two minutes, alleviating traffic.