Federal government will auction the ‘Highway of Death’ – 7/5/2023 – Market

Nine years after initiating and failing to complete the duplication of the BR-381 stretch known as “Rodovia da Morte”, the federal government is going to try to pass on to the private sector the work that it was unable to do.

During the period, four presidents of the Republic were in office: Dilma Rousseff (PT), Michel Temer (PMDB), Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and, now, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). Discussions around the work, however, are even older, and date back to the early 1990s.

The macabre nickname refers to the road route between Belo Horizonte and Governador Valadares, which is located in the eastern region of Minas Gerais.

On the 7th, the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) authorized the privatization of 296 kilometers of the road between the capital and Governador Valadares.

The concession notice is expected to be released by July 7, according to the Ministry of Transport.

“The approval of the BR-381 concession by the TCU will finally put an end to the history of accidents on one of the most important roads in the country”, posted on social networks the minister of the portfolio, Renan Filho, after the TCU’s decision.

“Now it’s time to work on placing the public notice on the street and preparing the auction! No more highway of death!”, added the minister in the publication. The concession provides for the installation of five toll plazas. The tariff value will be defined in the auction.

The toll plazas will be in Caeté, João Monlevade, Jaquaraçu, Belo Oriente and Governador Valadares.

The critical part of the “Rodovia da Morte” is between the capital and the municipality of João Monlevade, a winding route of 116 kilometers with steep ascents and descents.

BR-381 is the leader in deaths in the state. In 2022 there were 153, according to the Federal Highway Police. In second place was the BR-040, with 128.

The road connects São Paulo to Minas Gerais. The stretch between the two capitals was completed in 2005.

In order to try to do the same with the stretch between Belo Horizonte and Valadares, the federal government, during the administration of former president Dilma Rousseff (PT), signed, in May 2014, the first work orders for the duplication.

Nine years later, 55 kilometers have been duplicated and improved, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The reasons for the slowness are related to the complexity of the work, which involves geological risks (falling barriers) and expropriations, increasing the cost of the project.

To carry out the duplication, the federal government, at the time, divided the road into 11 lots, which it submitted to the competition of contractors.

Two even had interested companies, which are those on the way out of Belo Horizonte. In another, which had a contracted company, there are 37.5 kilometers duplicated, but there is a pending recovery of paving and signaling services, according to Dnit (National Department of Transport Infrastructure). Completion is scheduled for December 2023.

So far, the federal government has spent BRL 1.3 billion on works that have interested companies.

The two lots close to the capital that did not have interested companies are considered the most complicated of the entire work, as they involve the expropriation of areas occupied by housing.

A community that was formed on the way out of the capital, where there are forecasts for works within the BR-381 duplication project, is Vila da Luz, where around 1,500 families live.

The TCU report on the duplication cites exactly this point as one of the most complicated for the work to be carried out.

“The main challenges are the management of geological risks, carrying out the eviction and relocation of people from the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (RMBH) domain strip and the execution of capacity works and improvements in mountainous relief”, says the report from the court.

The work of duplicating the “Rodovia da Morte” was included in the Lula government’s 100-day plan, at the beginning of the mandate.

“The Ministry of Transport has made it a priority to resume works that had been at a standstill or at a slow pace since 2016, when it began a brutal reduction in the public budget for projects on highways”, says the folder, in a note.

“Resuming the works was only possible because of the approval of Constitutional Amendment 126/2022, which guaranteed the continuity of social programs such as Bolsa Família and Popular Pharmacy and reinforced the budget of the Ministry of Transport to approximately R$ 22 billion”, continues the text.

The ministry denies that it intended to carry out the duplication and that, throughout this year, it opted for the concession of the road. “It is a wrong conclusion. They are different plans, but with the same objective: to remove the sad nickname of ‘highway of death’ from the BR-381/MG.”

According to the folder, very peculiar geological characteristics, which demand heavy investments, led to the decision to grant the highway.

“Since he took office in January, the current management of the Ministry of Transport has started to study contracts from previous rounds to take advantage of the learning curve, maintain advances and correct directions”, argues the folder.

The investment forecast by the company that won the competition for the works on the “Rodovia da Morte” is R$ 5.2 billion, according to the National Secretary of Road Transport of the Ministry of Transport, Viviane Esse. The term of the concession is 30 years.

The TCU report projects the revenue to be earned by the company winning the auction at R$ 22.9 billion from toll collection in the five toll plazas during the concession period.

“It is an extremely necessary investment because it is a very important highway”, says the secretary. To start toll collection, the public notice to be released will demand that the winner of the auction meet minimum quality standards on the highway, according to Esse.

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History of BR-381

1952 – The stretch of highway between Belo Horizonte and João Monlevade was paved.

1959 – The connection between Belo Horizonte and Pouso Alegre took place on a single track during the Juscelino Kubitschek government.

1990 – The duplication of the northern section of the BR-381 began with Law nº 9.277/96, which transferred Union assets to the states.

1998 – The governor of Minas Gerais, Eduardo Azeredo, signed an agreement with the then president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, which provided that the state would carry out the duplication between Belo Horizonte and João Monlevade and a third lane to Ipatinga. The funds would come from the recently completed privatization of Vale do Rio Doce.

1999 – During former President Itamar Franco’s administration in the state, the highway ended up being returned to the Union.

2009 – President Lula, in his second term, included the duplication of the stretch in phase two of the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program).

2014 – First service order for the duplication, already in the Dilma Rousseff government. Thus, the highway was divided into 11 lots, of which seven were auctioned.

Source: CNT