The terrible conditions of Brazilian roads trigger several problems, such as high food prices and exclusive specifications for trucks in Brazil, for example.
The Brazilian road network is more than 1.7 million kilometers long, of which 94.7% are state and municipal highways and 5.3% are federal highways, according to Brazil’s National Department of Transportation Infrastructure (DNIT).
But which is the worst highway in the country?
The National Confederation of Transportation (CNT) conducts annual studies about the conditions of Brazilian highways.
In the latest survey, referring to the year 2021, the worst stretches of road in the country are under public management, not under private initiative management, and distributed in three regions: in the Northeast (Pernambuco, Maranhão, and Bahia), in the North (Amazonas and Acre) and in the South (Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina).
Many highways in Brazil are in poor condition, especially in the north and northeast of the country.
The worst stretch in Brazil, 59 km long, is on the BR-163 highway between São Miguel do Oeste and Dionísio Cerqueira, in the west of Santa Catarina state. The region borders the state of Paraná and Bernardo de Irigoyen, in Argentina.
According to the entity’s quality measurements, this stretch falls into the “Terrible” category, which is the worst possible level in the evaluation.
The stretch is considered “terrible” in the three divisions that make up the CNT study: paving, signaling, and road geometry. Of the 3,230 km evaluated in the state of Santa Catarina, 296 km are considered with this grade.
HIGHWAY CONDITIONS IN SANTA CATARINA:
- Very Good: 284 km
- Good: 648 km
- Fair: 1,140 km
- Poor: 862 km
- Terrible: 296 km
In the general ranking of Brazilian highways in the “Terrible” index, Santa Catarina is in 10th place. However, in the “excellent” index, it is in 8th place. These indexes are calculated based on the proportion of the state’s road network extension.
WORKS ON THE BR-163 HIGHWAY
After being considered the “worst highway in Brazil”, the BR-163 highway is undergoing improvements to make it safer. The stretch is deemed essential to agribusiness in western Santa Catarina.
With information from Auto Esporte
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