Residents of the district of San Sebastián de Palmitas had their mouths full of saliva because they were afraid of encountering another vehicle on the highway that connects this rural area with the urban area of Medellín. The narrow street was not only a cause of inconvenience, but also a reason for vulnerability to possible traffic accidents.
The mayor of Medellín has just put the expansion works of this highway at the service of the public, investing more than 5.2 billion pesos, according to the deputy head of project management of the Urban Development Company (EDU), Margarita Contreras. .
The work focused on seven critical points that showed greater deterioration and tightness and most affected the mobility of regular users. It is estimated that the beneficiaries are more than 8,000 people.
In some sections the extension was more than five meters to allow two vehicles to pass through.
“Before it was very risky and unpleasant. Thanks to the improvements we can transport two vehicles at the same time and have no problems with buses and heavy traffic. “The expansion has been a great blessing for those of us who live here,” said Daniel Polanco, who lives in Palmitas and carries passengers in a motorcycle taxi.
The intervention took place on the stretch between the Aburrá-Río Cauca road link and the center of Palmitas, covering a total area of 2.2 kilometers.
“This work not only brought progress to Palmitas, but also opened up employment opportunities for residents of the community. During the implementation of the work, 136 jobs were created, of which 50 were for young people, which corresponds to 19%. In addition, 26 women were employed, some of them from the industry,” emphasized the deputy managing director.
Palmitas is the quietest town in Medellín for security reasons; However, the access road has been the scene of several traffic accidents.
The last such incident recorded was the overturning of a truck carrying gas cylinders on September 8, injuring the driver of the vehicle. This happened in the La Aldea sector and apparently the causes were mechanical defects on the car.
There was also another accident involving the same vehicle in June, in which a police officer was killed and another public official and two civilians were injured. The uniformed officers were searching two people who were riding a motorcycle when they were struck by a car that was said to have lost control.
