La Sabana To Be Like Central Park
The landscape of the area surrounding the Parque de la Sabana on the west side of San José will change within the next 24 months with the construction of some 10 condominium buildings ranging from 17 to 20 floors each.

Several buildings have already risen above the skyline of the park, one on the western face of the park and four others, known as Brisa de Oeste, a kilometre away.

The 10 new buildings will be home for some 3.000 people and will be completed by 2009, according to San José mayor, Johnny Araya.

The building heights will average 53 metres (174 feet) and will include retail units on the ground floor and condos starting at us$58.000 dollars.

While the municipality is celebrating the initiatives by developers, the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) fears the total collapse of the roads around the park. MOPT vice-minister, Viviana Martín, said that today the congestion around the Sabana is enormous.

Where are buildings going up. The majority will be along the northern face of the park. Several buildings have already been torn down to make way for the high rises, while others like the famous restaurant Las Tunas, which is now closed, will soon be victim of the bulldozers.

Along the western face of the park, the restaurant Il Gato will soon make way for a tall building, towering over the Canal 7 complex.

More buildings will spring up in the area around the Universidad de Ciencias Médicas (Ucimed) and the Mas x Menos supermarket.

MOPT officials say that currentty 80.000 vehicles travel the Sabana on a dialy basis and traffic chaos during peak morning and afternoon rush hours is common, especially at the intersection in front of the Nissan dealer, where traffic police have been permanently posted during afternoon rush hour to control traffic.

vice-minister Martín said that a study is underway to determine the impact, which she fears will bring major chaos to the area.

Adding to the pending chaos is the Ley La Sabana which prohibits any changes to the park or its access points. Albert Torres, manager for the park, said that under no terms can the park roads, access points or vehicular movement, to alleviate any congestion of the area, be made.

The Sabana is a very attractive spot for many to live as it is close to downtown San José (5 kilometres) and is an area surrounded by a lot of green space, parks and upper scale homes, as well as having easy access to the major highways leading to Escazú, Santa Ana, the Circumvalación that leads to San Pedro and other points east and the General Cañas to the airport and others points west.

According to Araya, La Sabana will be like Central Park in New York.