Around 800 km of state roads classified as poor and very poor in RN were left out of the first three lots announced by the Government of RN of the highway recovery program, which will have an initial cost of R$428 million. The number corresponds to the number of highways in the worst condition listed in the DER road monitoring report, to which the TRIBUNA had access, which are not present in the list of lots announced by the government for the program. At the same time, hundreds of kilometers in 15 stretches of RNs classified as regular and even in good condition were included in the State Highways Restoration Program. The State says it used technical criteria to select the highways in the first batches and explains that it intends to use the remainder of the loan amount from the Fiscal Balance Program (PEF), around R$1.6 billion, to recover the remainder of the network bus station.
Last week, TRIBUNA DO NORTE published a report pointing out that the road recovery plan would not be enough to recover all state highways classified as bad and terrible by the government itself. The internal monitoring report for Potiguares highways was produced by DER, this April, at the request of the State Comptroller General. In it, state highways are divided into seven districts, with sections classified in five ways: Excellent, Good, Fair, Bad and Poor. The report is present in the SEI process 02510004.00304/2023-41, to which the COURT had access.
The report does not detail what qualifies the road in a certain criterion. The National Transport Confederation (CNT) points out that bad or very poor roads present serious problems in their paving, such as holes, cracks, severe wear, as well as deficiencies in signage, poor shoulders and lack of adequate maintenance. These conditions impair the safety and fluidity of traffic, increasing the risk of accidents and negatively impacting the transport of people and goods.
In practice, based on what was announced by the Government, the State will initially recover around 435 km of bad and terrible roads. Among the 800 km classified as bad or very bad that were left out are stretches in several cities in the State such as Assu, Grossos, Carnaubais, Jucurutu, Caicó, São João do Sabugi, Ouro Branco, Jardim do Seridó, Parelhas, Guamaré, Macau, Bento Fernandes, Riachuelo, João Câmara, Boa Saúde, São José de Mipibu, Goianinha, Arês, São Bento do Trairi, Senador Eloi de Souza, Serrinha, Santo Antônio, Monte Alegre, Canguaretama, Vila Flor, Pedro Velho, Montanhas, Nova Cruz, Brejinho, Passagem, Espírito Santo, Jundiá, Nísia Floresta, Georgino Avelino, Ceará Mirim, Santa Maria, São Paulo do Potengi, Macaíba, Vera Cruz, among others.
The DER report was produced by the Directorate of Works and Operations (DOO) and Division of Conservation and Improvements (DCM) and shows that, of the 3,379 km of state road network, around 1,243 km are classified as bad or very poor by the technical team of the government itself, which corresponds to 37.11% of the total number of RNs. The report also points out that, of the 3,300 km of RN’s road network, 284.4 km are in excellent condition, 365 km in good condition and 1,489 km in regular condition.
Criteria
During the signing of the work order to begin work on the first batch, which will cover around 750km, the state secretary of Infrastructure of RN, Gustavo Coelho, said that the conservation of the highway is not the only criterion that qualifies it to be in this first moment in the works of the State Highways Restoration Program.
“We have a more careful survey with other criteria as well, such as the flow of vehicles and people, loads. Those roads that required greater road safety were even indicated as priorities. The criteria are the quality of the pavement, but also the traffic study. This is just the first stage, we will have others and we will contemplate other sections following the same criteria: traffic, road safety, transportation of wealth and everything else”, he explains.
“We will restore critical sections and asphalt resurfacing of the entire highway, with signage and complete paving,” he explained.
Coelho also reinforced that the State is trying to obtain another loan from the World Bank in the order of R$900 million to restore roads in Rio Grande do Sul. Of this amount, around 90% must be used on highways.
In addition, the State is also investing in other portions of the PEF to invest in roads in the coming years.
With resources of around R$1.6 billion, the State has already received the first installment, of R$428 million. The other installments for the coming years are conditioned on a series of requirements that the State needs to comply with regarding spending control and legislation.
Mayors regret exclusion of roads
Mayors of cities that were not included in any of the lots interviewed by TN expressed regret and said they did not know why their highways, even though they were classified as bad or terrible by the government itself, were not included in the first stage of the recovery program.
One of these cases is on the RN-120 in a 28km stretch considered to be terrible between the cities of Bento Fernandes, Riachuelo and João Câmara. Mayor Manoel Bernardo (DEM) cites losses and remembers that the RN connects the regions of Mato Grande, North Coast and Potengi.
“The road is actually terrible, it has been without maintenance for a few years. It is a RN that connects BRs 406 and 304. And it is a highway that connects two important regions of the State, which is Potengi and Mato Grande. Unfortunately, the Government has not paid this attention to the Mato Grande region, I don’t know if it is some prejudice towards us, but benefit from the State Government for our region is difficult”, he said. “Maybe because we are adversaries? I don’t know. It could be that, but anything else. I don’t believe that the Government will punish an entire population because the mayor didn’t vote. In João Câmara, the governor had more than 60% of the votes and the population is being punished for that”, he added.
Another mayor who also regretted not being in the first stage of the program with PEF resources was José Amazan Silva (PSD), from Jardim do Seridó. The RN-089, with 22 km of “bad” sections according to the report, was not included. The location also covers the city of Ouro Branco.
“The highway is impassable. The impact is the loss of time and risk to citizens’ lives, wear on equipment, cars and tires. I have no idea (why it didn’t make it into the lots), but it definitely should have,” he pointed out.
In Greater Natal, the city of Macaíba is one of those that was awarded a 13 km recovery section classified as poor, however, another 23 km section on the RN-160 was left out.
“At first we were treated with the pothole repair, but it was stopped and never came back. The mayor was again this week making a new request for it to continue. This stopgap is essential. These are routes for the flow of rural productivity and it is causing a lot of harm”, says the municipality’s Infrastructure Secretary, Vitor Aguiar.
Government signs service order for the first batch
This Friday (03), the State Government signed work orders for the start of works on Lot 1, which comprises around 210km between the cities of Mossoró, Baraúna, Governador Dix-Sept Rosado, Tibau, Grossos, Rodolfo Fernandes , Marcelino Vieira, Viçosa, Portalegre, Francisco Dantas, Pau dos Ferros, Encanto, São Miguel and Coronel João Pessoa.
The lot includes, among others, the RN-015, a stretch between Mossoró and Baraúna; the Mossoró/Governador Dix-sept Rosado section of the RN-117, and 41 kilometers of the RN-177, from Pau dos Ferros to São Miguel. In total, there are around 210.5km tendered by the State Secretariat for Infrastructure (SIN).
The two other lots, containing 24 sections, are in the final bidding phase. According to the Secretary of Infrastructure, Gustavo Coelho, road services in the first batch will begin on three fronts: From Mossoró to Baraúna; from Mossoró to Governador Dix-sept Rosado; and from Pau dos Ferros to São Miguel.
The secretary said that the majority of state highways have a “fatigued structure” because they had not undergone adequate maintenance for a long time. “It will not be a simple hole-filling operation. In the language of highway engineering, it is restoration. We will change the floor structure and carry out general resurfacing of these selected sections, including horizontal and vertical signage, which are so important for road safety, informed the secretary.
