The National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) has extended the deadline for receiving questions and requests for clarification or modification of the final specifications for the bidding process for the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) of the El Estanquillo-Popayán highway corridor by one week. 

The deadline for receiving applications has been extended to Wednesday, September 17, 2025, to address potential investors' requests for more time to review the final specifications, which were published on the Secop I platform on July 14, 2025. 

The El Estanquillo-Popayán project, which seeks to connect the departments of Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Nariño and Putumayo with Ecuador, contemplates investments of US$8.82 billion in pre-construction, construction, operation and maintenance stages (US$6.29 billion in Capex and US$2.53 billion in Opex - figures from December 2024), and its purpose is to improve freight and passenger transportation between the center and southwest of the country.  During the construction phase, the initiative includes the improvement of the El Estanquillo-Popayán highway and the construction of the El Estanquillo-Timbío bypass, through a PPP concession model, connecting the capital of the department of Cauca with the municipalities of Timbío, Rosas, Patía, El Tambo, La Sierra, and Sotará (Paispamba). 

According to the planned schedule, the Public Hearing for the project award will be held in December 2025. The initiative has a two-year pre-construction period, 4.5 years of construction, 18 years of operation and maintenance, and a six-month contract reversion and settlement period. The project includes 14 tunnels totaling 17.9 km, 125 vehicular bridges, 62.3 km of dual carriageway, nine new at-grade and grade-separated intersections, 15 pedestrian bridges, and the acquisition of more than 600 rural and suburban properties.