ANTT is considering extending the BR 101 concession in SC by 15 years to include work and contain landslides – News

05/07/2024 – 18:45

The National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) is considering extending the BR-101 concession in Santa Catarina by 15 years to the company Arteris Litoral Sul, with the aim of contemplating the construction of two tunnels in the Morro dos Cavalos region, in the municipality of Palhoça .

The problem in the Morro dos Cavalos region is chronic: during the rainy season, landslides are common and the BR-101 is blocked – and that’s what happened in April. The highway, which connects Santa Catarina to Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná, was completely closed for 50 hours, and continued with partial closures for four days.

General Director of ANTT, Rafael Vitale Rodrigues explained that the agency received a proposal to extend the contract from Arteris Litoral Sul and should file the request with the Consensual Solution Chamber of the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) soon. According to him, if carried out under this contract, which will last another nine years (until 2033), the work would have a strong impact on the toll rate.

“With an additional 15 years to the nine years, this would allow us to have a tariff that is appropriate to the reality of Santa Catarina and would allow us to include a greater number of works,” he said. According to him, the construction of tunnels in the Morro dos Cavalos region would be included in the first years of the renegotiated contract, and the tariff would increase as the works were completed.

Current contract
The matter was debated in a public hearing at the National Integration and Regional Development Commission of the Chamber of Deputies this Tuesday (7), at the request of deputy Daniela Reinehr (PL-SC).

“When I made the request, we were experiencing a very serious landslide in Morro dos Cavalos, some people were locked on the highway for days”, highlighted the deputy. “This is an issue that, for us, has been very important for a long time, which These two tunnels in Morro dos Cavalos were already in planning, and unfortunately they were left out of the concession contract”, he reported. The concession contract with Arteris Litoral Sul was signed in 2020.

Definitive solution
President of the Federation of Cargo Transport and Logistics Companies of Santa Catarina, Dagnor Schneider believes that the work to build the tunnels should still be included in the current contract, and not in a possible extension. According to him, the incorporation of the work, estimated at R$1 billion, could be absorbed into the current contract with an increase in the toll fee by R$1. He recalled that the tunnel construction project has been discussed since 2010.

In his opinion, the work is necessary, but it does not definitively solve the problems faced by the road sector. “We need to be very clear that the projects that will be included in the eventual extension of the contract represent the solution that the state of Santa Catarina needs, this is the point of attention. And so far we haven’t yet seen what the proposed solution is,” he said.

For him, if the contract is extended by 15 years, totaling 24 years, it should include the construction of a highway parallel to BR 101, called Rodovia Litorânea. “The renewal or extension of the contract must effectively include works, and I am talking about works that must also look at the highway parallel to BR 101”, he stated. “This is a strategic project for the definitive solution to the problem of traffic flow, regardless of the work in Morros dos Cavalos, which is a necessary work”, he added.

Climate impact
President of the Chamber of Transport and Logistics, representing the Federation of Industries of Santa Catarina, Egídio Martorano, in turn, believes that “there is no time for (Arteris) to absorb the impact of the construction of the tunnels without a significant increase in tolls ”. He defends the extension of the concession by another 15 years, to allow the execution of the work without affecting the economic-financial balance of the granting company.

At the hearing, the general director of ANTT highlighted that extreme weather situations have been affecting the road network, and that rain was not expected in the Morro das Baleias region in April. “As a result, all of our infrastructures need to be reviewed so that they have greater climate resilience,” he warned.

Report – Lara Haje
Editing – Roberto Seabra