The route of the tunnel through the mountains of the Western Antioquia. Source: FCC Construcción
The designed length of the tunnel is 9.8 and it will cross the mountain area of Antioquia. This Colombian department currently lacks accessible ways for the vehicles due to its conformation. At present it takes about 6 hours to get from the capital of Antioquia department Medellin to the Gulf of Uraba. The tunnel will shorten this time to 3.5 hours.
The tunnel named Toya will become one of the largest road tunnels in Latin America along with the transnational tunnels Argentina – Chile Tunnel of Black Water (Túnel de Agua Negra) and Paso Las Leña), which are 14 and 11.5 km long respectively.
The total cost of the project is estimated as € 392 million. It includes the construction of the 18 km long highway between Giraldo and Cañasgordas. Apart from almost 10 km long tunnel Toya, several more tunnels will be constructed with the total length of 2.5 km. The planned time for the commission of the project is 2028.