President Daniel Ortega this week inaugurated the highlyanticipated 20kilometer highway leading into the Pacific beach town of San Juan del Sur, just in time for the booming tourism destination to kick off the DecemberApril high season for tourism.
The newlypaved road connects San Juan del Sur to the InterAmerican highway at the “La Virgen” intersection.
The former revolutionary leader also called for the town’s outgoing Sandinista Mayor Eduardo Holmann to oversee construction of the long-awaited Costanera – or coastal highway – which would connect San Juan and Nicaragua’s southern Pacific coastline with Costa Rica’s Guanacaste coast. Ortega said he wants ALBANISA, the joint private company between Venezuela and Nicaragua, to construct the ambitious Costanera highway.
“We’re going to seek the resources to jumpstart the Costanera and make it a reality,” Ortega said Dec. 10, during his first visit to San Juan del Sur since becoming president two years ago.
Building new roads has been one of the Ortega government’s main achievements over the past two years. The La VirgenSan Juan highway was financed with World Bank funds and built by Nicaraguan consortium Llansa NAP.
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Fernando Martínez said the new highway will boost tourism by making the drive from La Virgen to San Juan a shorter and more comfortable ride.
“Before, these 20 kilometers took an hour to drive, now we do it in 20 minutes,” Martínez said.
Martinez said the ministry plans to pave roads from Tola to Nancimi and between Buenos Aires, Rivas and San Jorge by May.
–Blake Schmidt
