Costanera Sur Promised
Complete By 2009
The ministra de Obras
Publicas y Transportes,
Karla González, has
promised to complete the
Costanera Sur, the
Pacific coastal highway,
by October 2009. The
road has in the planning
and construction stage
for the last 29 years.
The famous Costanera Sur
will be become a reality
with the help of an
us$850 million loan by
the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB),
that has yet to be
approved by the Costa
Rican legislature.
Three of the highway's
major bridges were
inaugurated earlier this
week, after many delays
in construction and
failed promises by
government officials.
The three bridges are
part of eight bridges
that connect Quepos to
Dominical, built over
the Paquita, Portalón,
and Matapalo rivers.
The Costanera Sur, the
stretch of road between
Quepos and Barú near the
Panamian border, is the
section that is has been
in the planning and
construction stages for
decades. The section
north of Quepos to Jaco
is almost complete with
the final construction
of the Parrita bridge.
González promised that
the Costanera Sur will
be paved within the year
completing the project.
The project got a boost
in 2003 with a us$60
million dollar loan from
the Banco
Centroamericano de
Integracion Economica (BCIE).
Once the highway is
complete it will mean a
definite boost to
tourism of the area and
traffic between Quepos
and points like
Dominical and points
south will increase. The
20 kilometre stretch of
the highway between
Quepos and Dominical
currently takes two
hours to traverse.
In addition to the
increase tourism
potential, the completed
Costanera Sur will mean
more transportation
freedom for area
residents and an
additional route to the
Interamericana Sur to
get from San Jose to the
Southern zone.
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