Valparaíso's SEA opens citizen participation for the Route 60 dual carriageway

The Environmental Evaluation Service (SEA) of the Valparaíso Region has initiated a 20-business-day public participation process for the environmental evaluation of the project “Expansion to dual carriageway of Route 60 CH, Communes of Panquehue and San Felipe, Valparaíso Region.” The decision is contained in exempt resolution No. 202605001117, dated September 16, 2026, signed by the Acting Regional Director, Paula Izquierdo Ossandón, and was notified in the Official Gazette on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, under official reference CVE 2878504. The project owner is Sociedad Concesionaria Autopista de Los Andes S.A.

Legal framework and scope of the process

The opening of the process is based on article 30 bis of Law No. 19,300 and article 94 of DS No. 40/2012 of the Ministry of the Environment, which approves the Regulations of the Environmental Impact Assessment System. The project entered the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA) under the typology of article 10, letter s), of Law No. 19,300, referring to works or activities that may alter the biotic components, their interactions, or the ecosystem flows of wetlands totally or partially within the urban limit.

The file corresponds to an Environmental Impact Declaration and its evaluation is located at the Regional Directorate of the SEA of Valparaíso, with address at Prat 827 street, office 402, Valparaíso.

The Aconcagua River wetland, at the center of the debate

According to the project description, the works include the expansion to dual carriageway of the Las Tinajas Bridge, in a section of the “Aconcagua River and Tributaries System” wetland. This intervention could alter the flora, fauna, and azonal hydric and riparian vegetation of the sector.

The SEA further warns that the project will generate environmental burdens according to article 94 of DS No. 40/2012, as it will produce negative externalities in nearby communities during its construction, derived, among other causes, from atmospheric emissions and noise associated with the works.

How and where to submit observations

Any natural or legal person may formulate observations to the project, according to article 95 of DS No. 40/2012, within the period of 20 business days before the Regional Directorate of the SEA. The requirements and conditions of the procedure are as follows:

• Observations must be submitted in writing.
• They must contain their justifications.
• They must refer to the environmental evaluation of the project.
• The period will be counted from the date of publication of the last notice in the Official Gazette and in a daily newspaper of the regional capital or of national circulation, as applicable.

The full text of the resolution can be consulted at the Regional Directorate of the SEA, on the service’s institutional website, and at the SEA electronic signature publications link corresponding to September 16, 2026.

Impact for the province of San Felipe

The resolution recognizes that the work will generate social benefits associated with the satisfaction of transport and road connectivity needs, on a structuring route for the province of San Felipe and for the Aconcagua valley. In parallel, the process opens a formal instance for neighbors, organizations, and municipalities of Panquehue and San Felipe to influence the environmental conditions of a project that intervenes in a wetland protected by evaluation regulations. The deadline runs from the publication of the last notice; therefore, interested parties must verify the exact closing date with the Regional Directorate of the SEA.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,562, Wednesday, September 30, 2026, Section I, General Norms, p. 1 (official reference: CVE 2878504).