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Una motoniveladora amarilla y obreros con chalecos reparan una vía rural de tierra entre montañas verdes y fincas
Erick Prometeo Media

Tiger Roads Plan Targets 30,000 Kilometres to Close the Rural Gap

The Tiger Roads programme, led by President Abelardo de la Espriella together with Invías, aims to intervene in 30,000 kilometres of secondary and tertiary…

--- The context --- Across rural Colombia, the condition of secondary and tertiary roads shapes everyday life. Where terrain, rains and deterioration make travel difficult, reaching a market becomes slow and expensive, and inequality with the countryside deepens. --- The facts --- The Tiger Roads programme, led by President Abelardo de la Espriella together with Invías, has set as its main goal the intervention of 30,000 kilometres of secondary and tertiary roads through maintenance, rehabilitation and construction, in order to improve land communication for the rural population. The effort seeks to improve connectivity, narrow the inequality gap with the countryside, raise quality of life and ease access to markets. It also includes the placa huella system to respond to needs identified by mayors. --- The positions --- Omar Darío Sepúlveda, deputy director of Invías and appointed manager of the Orinoquia-Pacífico road, explained that a methodology will be developed to pinpoint the most pressing needs on tertiary roads. He indicated that Invías has a project bank supported by technological platforms to identify and manage projects, and that a project included there probably already has geometric designs and studies, updated when necessary so that they remain within Tiger Roads. Sepúlveda also noted that the plan envisages a system that creates a large fund where current revenues and some taxation can be collected. Invías spokespeople stressed the importance of intervening in rural corridors hit by terrain, rains and deterioration, and the director general presented before the Legal Accounts Commission of the House of Representatives a financial and budgetary balance with projections for 2027 and a projected budget close to 5.8 trillion pesos for the next term, backed by financing sources already identified. --- What remains unknown --- Which corridors will enter the programme first is not yet known, nor the pace of progress toward the overall target. It has not been detailed either how resources will be divided among maintenance, rehabilitation and construction, or how the planned revenues and taxation will be collected. --- Unanswered questions --- Which rural corridors will be prioritised in the first phase of Tiger Roads? How many of the planned 30,000 kilometres are tertiary roads and how many are secondary roads? How will sustained maintenance be guaranteed for the most remote communities once the initial intervention ends? --- EPM analysis --- The announced scale turns tertiary roads into a central front of public action, because inequality is expressed there in travel times and limited access to markets. The project bank and the placa huella system combine prior planning with solutions tailored to each territory, although the outcome will depend on execution and financing. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, Tiger Roads is right to focus on the countryside, because no territorial equality policy can prosper while rural communities remain isolated by impassable roads for much of the year. Its value will be measured in markets reached, produce moved and services delivered. The challenge will be to sustain financing, prioritise with transparent technical criteria and demonstrate verifiable progress corridor by corridor, so that the announcement does not fade over time.
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