Road Maintenance Project Underway in Cuba

A delivery of almost 100,000 tons of asphalt will be received as part of a program to begin vitally needed highway maintenance in Cuba.

The director of the National Road Center, Raúl Díaz, told the Granma newspaper that financing and materials have been made available for the National Highway restoration project for a time frame of three years. The National Highway crosses several provinces of the Island.

Maintenance and investment in the highway network has been defined as a priority for tourism and economic development. Road maintenance also directly benefits accident prevention, manufacturing, and agriculture industries.

Road maintenance projects have been identified for Mariel, the National Highway, the Central Highway and Vía Blanca.

The main objectives of the road project for 2020 is to increase the amount of asphalt destined for the Central Highway, sections which have been determined critical sections according to accident risk rates.

The first priority for asphalt delivery is ​​the airports runways at José Martí International in Havana and Abel Santamaría in Villa Clara.

Diaz identified 5,862 roads in total, 304 of which are in poor condition and 100 which have been listed for repair.

One of the biggest challenges related to road maintenance is in the administration of the roads and where responsibility lies for their repair.

Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez has stated that the repair of municipal roads must become the task of each territory and alternative solutions for local development must be sought due to equipment limitations.