La Línea is a highway tunnel currently under construction between the cities of Calarcá, Quindío and Cajamarca

Cajamarca

Cajamarca may refer to:Colombia*Cajamarca, Tolima a town and municipality in Tolima DepartmentPeru* Cajamarca, city in Peru.* Cajamarca District, district in the Cajamarca province.* Cajamarca Province, province in the Cajamarca region....

, Tolima in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. It will cross beneath the locally famous "Alto de La Línea" in the Cordillera Central

Cordillera Central

The Cordillera Central, meaning central range in Spanish, is used to refer to several mountain ranges around the world:* Cordillera Central, Andes , several mountain ranges in South America** Cordillera Central, Colombia...

 or central range of the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 mountains, easing traffic on one of Colombia's main east-west road connections (the National Route 40) which links Bogotá

Bogotá

Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

 with Cali

Calì

Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...

 and the Pacific port of Buenaventura

Buenaventura, Colombia

Buenaventura is a port city and municipality located in the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia . Buenaventura is the main port of Colombia in the Pacific Ocean....

. It will be the longest tunnel in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

. The total length of the tunnel will be 8,580 metres, its western entrance being at 2,420 metres above msl, 19 kilometres east of the city of Armenia

Armenia, Colombia

Armenia is the capital of Quindío, a department in Colombia. The city is located at coordinates 4.5170° north, 75.6830° west, 290 kilometers west of Bogotá. Armenia is a mid-size city located between Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, the 3 largest Colombian cities. The city's area code for phone calls is...

 and the eastern one at 2,505 metres above msl, at 37.8 kilometres west of Ibagué

Ibagué

Ibagué is the capital of the department of Tolima in Colombia. It is situated 1,285 m above sea level, on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central between the Chipalo and Combeima rivers, tributaries of the Coello River...

. Constructions of the pilot tunnel started on 30 September 2004 and both sides of the pilot met on 2 August 2008. In September 2007 Ministry of Transport

Ministry of Transport (Colombia)

The Ministry of Transport is the national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia responsible for charge of regulating transportation in Colombia.- History :...

 launched the tender process for the construction of tunnel and connecting roads.. Construction work is expected to begin in 2008 and finish in 2013.

Benefits

Some of the benefits include lower operation costs ($37 Million US in the first year), shorter travel time and reduction in the number of accidents. Due to the difficult terrain that will be avoided, $37 million US should be saved in operating costs in the first year. Furthermore, travel time will decrease as average speed increases from its current 18.2 kilometers/hour to 60 kilometers/hour. For heavy vehicles, travel times can be decreased by 80 minutes, and 40 minutes for light vehicles. This section is also currently one of the stretches in the country most prone to accidents (four times the national average) due to its geography and climate. The tunnel could bring the stretch down to the average. Total economic benefits are estimated to be $40 million US per annum.