The Ministry of Public Works (MOP) has received two offers for the new concession of Route 5 Santiago - Los Vilos, which will improve connectivity between the Metropolitan, Valparaíso and Coquimbo regions.

The companies that submitted bids are Vías Chile and Sacyr. The US$1.275 billion project involves a section of Route 5 that begins at 10.8 km and corresponds to the northern exit of Santiago, in the commune of Quilicura and ends in the commune of Los Vilos (229.1 km). The new concession includes the El Melón tunnel. The main milestones of this project include 10.7 km of expansion from three to four lanes in each direction, between the Buenaventura interchange and the Batuco-Liray interchange, and 102 km of expansion from two to three lanes in each direction, from Batuco-Liray to the southern interchange of the El Melón Tunnel, which also includes the La Calavera Tunnel. 85 km of route corrections are planned to bring the route to a speed of 100 and 120 km/hr. Likewise, the service roads that currently have a granular solution will be replaced by an asphalt solution and along with this, a total of 85 km of new service roads and a total of 15 new interchanges will be built that together with the service roads will allow better connectivity for all the communities that live around the Route 5 route. The improvement of existing interchanges is also considered, highlighting the improvement of the La Montaña interchange located at the northern exit of Santiago.

The project also includes 19 new bridges and 31 new pedestrian walkways and the replacement of 38 existing walkways in compliance with universal accessibility regulations, as well as bus stops and pedestrian circuits. In addition, to provide better service to users of the route, two new general service areas (for heavy vehicles) will be built and the existing service areas will be expanded. In addition, 10 new sales areas for typical products from the areas crossed by the project and two interprovincial bus stops will be added at the northern exit of Santiago. Following the deadlines, construction is expected to begin in Q4 of 2028, with all works to be completed by the end of 2031.