Southern roads are included in the plan of concessions

Government bets in partnerships with private initiative to update the roads of the region

The situation of roads in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, that was not good in 2014, worsened a lot in 2015.  One in each four kilometers is considered bad or very bad. This conclusion is part of a research issued by the Confederação Nacional do Transporte (CNT – National Confederation of Transport) in last November. This research was being carried out during the last 20 years, analyzing the conservation conditions of a significant part of the paved road network of the country.

In the case of Rio Grande do Sul, the figures show that 18.3 percent of the sections inspected are in bad condition, 6.1 percent are in very bad condition and 49.2 percent are in regular condition. The research analyzed 8668 kilometers of roads, considering pavement, signaling and road geometry.

According to the research, only 2.9 percent of the roads of Rio Grande do Sul may be considered excellent, against 12.5 percent in the whole country. Another 23.5 percent are considered in good condition, against a national average of 30.2%.

In 2014, the research of CNT showed that 302 km were classified as excellent (3.6 percent) in Rio Grande do Sul. This number was 5.3 percent in 2013 and the figures were being reduced as years went by: in 2010, 66 percent of the roads were excellent or good; in 2011, 62 percent; in 2012, 58.7 percent; and in 2013, 48.9 percent.

Among all roads listed in the study, only the Park Highway (BR-448) is considered excellent in general. The BR-290, in the section between Osório and Eldorado do Sul, the BR-116, in the section of Guaíba and the BR-392, between Pelotas and Rio Grande were also considered excellent but received the classification regular by the CNT, that uses as its criteria the total length of the road. According to CNT, the RS-130, the RS-240 and the BR-153, the BR-392 and the BR-470 were considered in good conditions. On the other hand, the RS-241, the RS-332, the RS-640 and the BR-471 were considered very bad.

Still in accordance with the research of CNT, the State of Paraná has the best roads of the Southern Region. The inspection covered 5996 km of roads across the state, being 47 percent in excellent and good condition and 33.3 percent in regular condition. They are also above the national average – 42.7 percent of excellent and good roads.

Therefore, Paraná has 2587 km of roads in excellent or good conditions. Among these roads are the PR-092, 151, 407, 158, 239, 442, 460 and 445. The BR-116, 277, 376, 480 and 369 are also included in the list of the roads in good conditions.

“This is the result of the investments carried out by the state government to rebuild the road network. Differently of other states—which received large resources of the federal government—our works are carried out only with resources of the state”, says the Secretary of Infrastructure and Logistics, José Richa Filho.

The state of Santa Catarina occupies the second place in the regional ranking of roads, having 38.3 percent of its roads in excellent and good condition, 36.4 percent in regular condition and 25.2 percent in bad and very bad condition.

The hope is in the PIL

In a scenario of low public resources available for investment in infrastructure, the rebuilding of the Southern road network depends—in short term—on private participation through projects of concession and commercial exploitation of the roads. Hope is, therefore, in the success of the Plano de Investimentos em Logística (PIL – Plan of Investment in Logistics), issued in 2012 by the Federal Government to give a new impulse to the area of transport and logistics. This is a set of projects turned to the updating of railways, ports, airports, waterways and roads.