Do you live outside the City of Buenos Aires and have to suffer the daily traffic jams in the entrances to the City? The General Auditor's Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) observed that "construction work to increase the capacity of the routes was not performed". This situation causes traffic problems and significant damage in some sections.

According to the watchdog entity, "the concession agreement states that when the traffic volume exceeds certain predetermined levels, new traffic lanes must be built." It seems that this policy provided by the body responsible for the road concessions and control (OCCOVI, for its acronym in Spanish) didn’t help much. The body stated that "in several sections that limit had been exceeded." These sections are four of the entrances to the City: North Access, West Access, Highway Ricchieri - Ezeiza – Cañuelas, and Highway Buenos Aires - La Plata. President Peron Highway is exempted from this policy because it was not analyzed by the auditors. The AGN explained that gathering all the information about the work being done on the highway was not an easy task because "there is no work plan for any of the four entrances".

In its report, the audit found that "the test on the state of the roads were deficient and were not done every six months, as it was established, but instead it was only done once a year." Despite the irregularities, the traffic control entity "did not create the reports to record the failure to execute road works". What are those reports? They are documents certifying any fault or deficiency from which penalties could be generated. There has also been observed a significant delay in penalties ranging from one year and eight months to five years.

The watchdog entity also evaluated the service that was provided to the citizens and there were many flaws found. Among them, "the repeated presence of animals on the Highway Buenos Aires - La Plata and no measures implemented to minimize the risk." The report published this year, announced about the presence of cows, horses, and dogs at kilometers 51 to 51.5 and 23.5 to 24 and at kilometers 23.5 to 24.5, 28, 39, and 52 to 52.5. The worst part about this is that “even though it is known that there are animals present in these areas, there is no security personnel to prevent this.” Furthermore, "given the repeated claims of users and victims of accidents in the highways, the concessionaire respond by stating that they are not responsible for the accidents or that these were just unfortunate events." The audit highlights that “the OCCOVI took no action against the attitude of the companies to discourage complaints."

The AGN also said that "there is an average of 27 complaints per month for ‘damages from objects impacting and forcing the vehicles to stop, with the risks involved in stopping in the middle of a highway.’” It also found "that in some toll stations ‘fire extinguishers were expired, or were not even filled,’ and that in others, ‘the state of public bathrooms was insufficient because the toilets were dilapidated or had poor hygiene.”

Since 2003 a process of "discussion and reevaluating of contracts" was started and lasted between four and eight years. Among the results, the AGN observed that there were "cost adjustments; rescheduling, delay and cancelation of construction jobs," among other matters. Also, a new review process would be reopened between the state and the concessionaires, however, it never happened. 

Who's who

The report written by the federal watchdog analyzed the concessionaires’ compliance to the contracts to five different accesses to the City of Buenos Aires: Northern Access Highway managed by Autopistas del Sol; Western Access, run by the ; Ricchieri – Ezeiza access  – Cañuelas, which is currently managed by Autopistas del Sur, Buenos Aires - La Plata Highway, by the Concesionaria Vial Argentino Española; and lastly the President Perón Highway, which is currently without any concession.

Highway Buenos Aires - La Plata

This highway access deserves a paragraph of its own; not only for the highway itself, but for the debt its concessionaire has with the State. Coviares SA has run this highway since 1984. In 10 years, it accumulated a debt of $ 155.5 million in refundable refunds. Eight years later, and after several renegotiations, the Ombudsman echoed a study of OCCOVI and stated that "the total debt is of 400 million pesos." The AGN reported that "by January 2012, Coviares had not met the first deadline to pay the debt." Moreover, by that date "the debt had risen to $770 million”.

By October of last year, the National Highway Department decided, jointly with the Ministry of Infrastructure of Buenos Aires, to "intervene in the contract and designate an auditor". Oddly enough, as of last Thursday, the highway is now in charge of the company Autopistas de Buenos Aires (Highways of Buenos Aires) SA (Ausaba), whose capital is almost entirely the State’s.

General Paz Avenue

In 2008 the work plan for the expansion of this access was approved. It was to be financed through an additional price. The extra money "would not be an income to the dealership, but would act as a simple collection." However, the expansion of General Paz, the construction work or the rise of toll prices never began.

The Department for National Roads approved on August 2012 a new agreement for the implementation of road expansions on that specific road with a new tariff for it.