President of Paraguay Santiago Peña officially enabled vehicular traffic on the Bridge of Integration with Brazil during an event held on the Paraguayan side. Peña highlighted that the project responds to a "historical aspiration" to strengthen physical and economic integration between both countries and to facilitate the transit of people, goods, and services in the triple border. During the event, the Franco–Alto Paraná Border Crossing was also inaugurated, a key infrastructure for the operation of the new international crossing that connects with Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The day before, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had opened the passage on the Brazilian side. The Bridge of Integration, the second crossing over the Paraná River after the Friendship Bridge, is 760 meters long with a central span of 470 meters, designed to support the increase in light and heavy traffic. Its construction required an investment of nearly 84 million dollars, financed by the Left Margin of Itaipu Binational as part of bilateral strategic infrastructure commitments. In this first phase, the bridge will operate partially and experimentally: only the nighttime passage of trucks in ballast, without cargo, will be allowed as part of a pilot plan to alleviate the congestion of the Friendship Bridge, through which about 30,000 vehicles pass daily.
