Colombia's National Infrastructure Agency on Sept. 18 announced the next stage of its transportation infrastructure concessions, in which the government will invest more than $22 billion improving and expanding the country's road system over the next two years. The concessions are part of a larger strategic goal to invest nearly $32 billion in transportation infrastructure by 2014 and nearly $100 billion by 2021. Colombia is also investing in rail, river and maritime transport infrastructure, but its road project is the most prominent since Colombia uses roads for more than 80 percent of its internal transportation. In 2010, torrential rains destroyed large sections of the country's paved roads and at present, Colombia's road network is continuously deteriorating, exacerbating bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Since roads are so important to Colombia's transportation, the first initiative will create four major road systems that will transect the country and substantially improve existing roadways. The government will also expand a number of critical roads from two lanes to four lanes and build bridges and tunnels to improve speed of transport. There are currently 6,000 kilometers of road concessions, which the government hopes to increase to 12,000 kilometers by the end of 2014.
