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Project redesigns one of the main connections between Great Vitória, the Serrana Region, and Minas Gerais with a billion-dollar package of works, special structures, and new routing in critical areas, repositioning BR-262 at the center of the infrastructure and mobility agenda in Espírito Santo.
The duplication of BR-262 between Viana and the border with Minas Gerais has entered a new planning phase, with an estimated budget of R$ 8.6 billion and planned interventions along 180.6 kilometers.
The projected layout includes 50 viaducts and underpasses, 28 bridges, 6 footbridges, 4 tunnels, and 40 kilometers of bike lanes, in a package that repositions the work among the largest road projects ever designed for Espírito Santo.
The project was structured by the National Department of Transport Infrastructure and began to be treated as a public solution after unsuccessful attempts to attract the private sector for a concession similar to those adopted in other federal corridors.
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With no interested parties in previous bids, the federal government decided to execute the duplication with public resources and leave any future concession for a later stage, especially in the sections considered less complex.
A significant part of this funding already has a defined source.
From the reparations agreement for the damages caused by the rupture of the Fundão dam in Mariana, Espírito Santo reserved R$ 2.3 billion for BR-262, an amount that will be applied to the work as state funding within a larger arrangement of infrastructure investments and compensation.
New BR-262 will have viaducts, tunnels, and bike lanes
The design of the highway goes far beyond simple lane expansion.
In addition to the duplication, the project includes 31 grade-separated intersections, 24 operational turnarounds, 22.6 kilometers of urbanized areas, and about 176.8 thousand square meters of special art works, a set designed to reorganize access, reduce traffic conflicts, and improve safety along an axis marked by curves, urban crossings, and historical bottlenecks.
In sections of the mountains, the solution will require heavier engineering interventions, with elevated structures, tunnels, and changes in routing.
The project also envisions a connection with fewer curves between Viana and Marechal Floriano, replacing current segments with new stretches, in an attempt to shorten travel times and make the operation of the highway more regular along the corridor to the interstate border.
The technical reference used in developing the layout was the Immigrant Highway in São Paulo, especially due to the need to cross areas of difficult terrain with high-cost and complex execution solutions.
This comparison helps to gauge the scale of the intervention, especially in the Serrana Region, where the terrain poses greater challenges for earthworks, containment, crossings, and the geometric fitting of the future duplicated lane.
Bid for BR-262 and division into lots
The most recent schedule indicates that the supervision of the work and the registry should be bid in April 2026.
The main bid, which covers the mountain section and will be judged by the criteria of technique and price, is projected for the second half of 2026, after the project review and preparation of the notices.
This scaling occurs because the duplication has been divided into two phases and five lots, a strategy aimed at making contracting more viable and distributing execution risk.
In practice, lots 1, 2, and 3 concentrate the first major front of works, from the junction with BR-101 to the meeting with ES-484, in Conceição do Castelo, precisely in the section considered the most difficult of the highway.
The second stage covers lots 4 and 5, already heading towards the border with Minas Gerais, in a segment identified as less complex and more compatible with future concession.
Meanwhile, DNIT reported that environmental studies are ongoing, with a review of the EIA and RIMA, payment of a fee to Iema, and preparation of the preliminary license request.
How much will each section of the duplication cost
Lot 1, between km 15.9 and km 50.8, including restoration of the existing lane, is the most expensive and has an estimated cost of just over R$ 3 billion.
Next, lot 2, up to the junction with ES-368 in Domingos Martins, is estimated at around R$ 1.05 billion, while lot 3, up to ES-484, is projected at nearly R$ 1.99 billion.
In the final section, lot 4, between ES-484 and the area near the urban crossing of Ibatiba, is budgeted at around R$ 1.56 billion.
Lot 5, which continues to km 196, at the beginning of the bridge over the José Pedro River, has an estimated cost of R$ 1.02 billion, completing the total presented in the executive project under development.
The financial dimension helps to explain why BR-262 has come to be treated as a project outside the typical standards of Espírito Santo.
For comparison, the Mestre Álvaro Bypass, often cited as a reference for road engineering in the State, cost R$ 456 million, a value much lower than the amount now projected for the full duplication of the connection between Great Vitória, the Serrana Region, and the border with Minas.
Billion-dollar project places highway at the center of Espírito Santo’s infrastructure
At the same time, the advancement of the project reignites an old demand from sectors linked to logistics, tourism, and agricultural production, which see BR-262 as a strategic corridor for the flow of goods and for circulation between the coast and the interior.
With the main notice expected for 2026 and preparatory stages already underway, the work returns to the center of the public agenda as a promise of roadway transformation that still depends on licensing, contracting, and large-scale execution.
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