Anyone Know The Way To San José?
Visitors to Costa Rica who insist on driving themselves do so with intuition and pure luck on not getting lock in the face of poor or lack of road signs directing them to their destination or warning of a dangerous curve ahead.

The lack of or poorly maintained directional and warning signs provoke problems for vacationers as they drive groping along the way kilometre after kilometre, in the hope they are going the right way.

 And the situation gets worse at night as landmarks are completely lost to the darkness.

In some cases, lack of proper road signalization has resulted in accidents, some fatal, like the accident last week in Cartago, when two tourists died in an accident in the centre of old city. Poor signalization was the cause.

And like centre of Cartago, other cities like Alajuela, Heredia and San José, have similar problems. Missing stop or one way signs, for example,  can leave a visitor totally lost and driving in the wrong direction of a one way street.

Outside of major centres, lack of or poor signage can leave a visitor completely lost or losecontrol of their vehicle.

A poll by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) taken at the Juan Santamaría (San José) international airport shows that three out of 10 visitors give poor to bad marks to the signalization on the country's roads.

The vice-minister of the Transportes, Viviana Martín, blames the problem on the previous government, who did not dedicate sufficient resources to road signs.

Add to that signs that have been knocked down, run over, rusted out and plain out stolen, who turn around and sell them for the metal content.

Mario Chavarría, subdirector of Ingeniería de Tránsito (traffic engineering) says that some 8.000 signs needs to be installed and/or replaced.

A drive through any major route around the country and in an around San José is evidence of the problem, a problem that has been growing and will continue to get worse if the current government doesn't act and fast.

Many visitors, in rented cars and with maps in hand, are left scratching their head looking for a sign to point them in the direction of the their destination, only to find that no such sign exists. Intuition is the only guide and of course, actually reaching the destination, is proof of success. Many have to turn back and try again. Sometimes several times.

Alberto López, executive director of the Cámara Nacional de Turismo (Canatur), added that tourists give high marks to hotels and resorts who have taken it upon themselves to install signs pointing visitors to their locations. However, according to López, the reaction of the tourist is not the same when asked about other signage.

Vice-minister Martín added that this coming year the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) will invest sme ¢900 million colones (us$1.7 million dollars) in road signs.

In addition, the Ministro de Turismo (Tourism minister), Carlos Ricardo Benavides, said that he will work with local business operators in the tourist areas to collaborate in buying and maintaining road signs.