The Perón Highway would be the third ring road of the AMBA
The case of a highway whose name is not without controversies has not been the exception. The expansion of the route of the Highway Camino del Buen Ayre, also known as President Perón, is a fundamental road artery in both the strategic development and connectivity of the municipalities located in the second cordon of the conurbation.
The strategic importance
Its bidding was initiated by the national government in 2009 with the aim of constructing 94 km over a period of 3 years, and construction began the following year, receiving great acceptance from the mayors. By becoming the third ring road of the AMBA, it would connect from the intersection of Access Oeste and the Highway del Buen Ayre in Merlo, to Route 2 in Berazategui, passing through peripheral municipalities such as Ezeiza, San Vicente, Florencio Varela, and the southwest of La Matanza.
It is a key project for achieving connectivity in the Conurbano without going through General Paz.
In this way, it allows progress towards greater metropolitan integration, decongesting the much-despised General Paz and benefiting freight vehicles that have to divert to Provincial Route 6 or the already heavily trafficked urban routes of the conurbation.
Current situation
However, one of the most important main sections has still not been inaugurated: the connection of the Highway with Access Oeste in the Municipality of Merlo.
Even today, to reach from Access Oeste to the new Highway, one must travel along the modest collector of the Reconquista River, entering a labyrinthine path of blocked streets and signage, crossing a train barrier, and entering Provincial Route 40 to then be able to rejoin the highway, taking between 20 to 30 minutes for what could be done in 5.
The difficulty of the Transfer from Nation to Province
As of December 10, 2023, this public work, whose construction tripled its estimated duration, is completely halted. With 31 km unfinished (6 kilometers in the aforementioned section of Merlo, and 24 km in Guernica up to Route 2) it lacks lighting, collectors, road safety, and any police presence, and it is becoming an ideal corridor for drug trafficking and dealing. “Today there are no federal forces, no one controls what is happening,” argued the Minister of Security in Buenos Aires.
The provincial government is demanding the transfer of control of the work from the Nation, which Chief of Cabinet Guillermo Francos stated he would agree to. However, this has not yet occurred due to the “complexity of the administrative issue,” and the conditions of the companies that were awarded the tender in the different sections of the highway. Meanwhile, the dangers generated in this much-needed artery continue.
Despite the recently approved Basic Law determining that in Article 73 of Title III, the Executive Power can redirect halted public works and services, there are still no relevant actions for the transfer.
Rome was not built in a day, but it also did not stop being built. How much longer must we wait to finalize a crucial project in the development of the conurbation?
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