"Chile without Barriers" program: Minister of Public Works initiates operations of the free-flow system on Route 68
Minister Juan Andrés Fontaine stressed that motorists who use this system in the highway tolls of Lo Prado and Zapata, will be able to cut journey times by 3 to 5 minutes, depending on traffic conditions.
"Fulfilling President Sebastián Piñera’s government program, today we officially start the operation of the free-flow or electronic toll system here on Route 68. What we are doing is eliminating the barriers, the manual tolls in this case on the central carriageways, so that people can drive through the tolls without needing to slow down, as the gantries will detect the license plate number of each car through the same tag device that is used for urban highways, and without the need for any prior registration," stated Public Works Minister Juan Andrés Fontaine, after giving the go-ahead to the initiative that is part of the "Chile without Barriers" program.
The Minister stressed that motorists who use the free-flow system to drive through the tolls of Lo Prado and Zapata on Route 68 will save up to 3 to 5 minutes on journey times, depending on traffic conditions. "It is a very significant time saving and when this system is in operation on all the roads around Santiago, which is scheduled to be implemented over the course of the present year, there will be a total saving of 4 million man hours per year, which we have calculated to represent US$157 million per year in terms of time savings for people."
The Public Works Minister explained that the free-flow operation on Route 68 joins those already functioning on Route 5 North in Lampa and on the North-West By-pass Route (Radial Nororiente). "This system will soon be implemented on Route 5 South in Angostura; work has already begun and our plan is that it will be up and running by midyear, just in time for the winter holidays."
For his part, the General Director of VíasChile, Luis Miguel de Pablo, said that for the implementation of the free-flow system on Route 68, around US$20 million has been invested and that this will not mean an additional cost for motorists. "On a day-to-day basis, this represents great value in time savings and we believe that specifically when motorists drive through the tolls they should no longer experience congestion problems."
During the activity that took place this morning at the Lo Prado Toll, Minister Juan Andrés Fontaine was also accompanied by the General Director of Ministry of Public Works Concessions, Hugo Vera, along with representatives of the VíasChile group.