Monay Interchange: 30 Days of Nighttime Highway Closures Start Now

Late-Night Drivers, Plan Accordingly

The Monay interchange — Cuenca's biggest active infrastructure project — has entered a new construction phase that's going to affect anyone who drives the Cuenca-Azogues highway at night.

Starting March 10, crews are installing steel beams for the overpass structure, which requires nightly highway closures from 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM for approximately 30 days, according to El Mercurio.

That means if you're coming back from Azogues, Biblian, or anywhere along the northern highway late at night, you'll need to use alternate routes through the city rather than the main highway during those hours.

Project Status: 24% Complete

The interchange project is currently at 24% completion, which means we're still in the early-to-mid stages of construction. Here's what the timeline looks like:

• Current phase: Beam installation for the overpass structure (the reason for the nighttime closures)
• First overpass operational: Expected by September 2026
• Full project completion: Later in 2027 (exact date depends on construction progress)

The Monay interchange is designed to eliminate the bottleneck where highway traffic meets city traffic in the Monay sector — one of the most congested intersections in Cuenca's eastern corridor. When completed, the overpass will allow highway traffic to flow over local traffic without the current mess of merging, stopping, and honking.

What You Need to Know

If you drive the Cuenca-Azogues highway at night:

• Closures are 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM, lasting approximately 30 days from March 10
• Detour routes will be signed, but expect them to route you through surface streets in the Monay area
• Allow extra time if you're catching an early morning bus from the Terminal Terrestre or heading to the airport in the pre-dawn hours
• The daytime highway is not affected by this phase of construction — normal traffic flow continues during the day, though the construction zone still requires reduced speed

If you live in the Monay area:

• Noise from nighttime construction is expected during the beam installation phase. Heavy equipment, welding, and crane operations will be happening through the night
• Local access roads may be partially restricted during installation windows
• This is temporary — the 30-day beam installation is a specific phase, not the new normal

The Bigger Picture

The Monay interchange has been a long-requested project. The intersection has been one of Cuenca's worst traffic chokepoints for years, especially during rush hours when highway traffic, bus routes, and local vehicle traffic all converge in the same bottleneck.

The completed interchange will include overpasses that separate highway through-traffic from local traffic, which should dramatically reduce congestion and improve safety at what has historically been a high-accident zone.

The September target for the first operational overpass is an important milestone. If the project stays on schedule, Cuenca's eastern corridor should see real relief before the end of 2026.

We'll keep you updated as construction progresses and if the closure schedule changes.

Source: El Mercurio