Circunvalación To Be Closed Nightly
The Ministerio de Obras Pública y Transporte (MOPT) announced that beginning tomorrow (August 2) the circunvalación - the ring road on the south side of San José - will be closed nightly from Monday to Friday from 8pm to 6am.

On Sundays the highway will have restricted traffic flow from 6pm to 1am.

The MOPT says it needs to shut down the high volume thoroughfare - a total of 18 kilometres - from the Burger King in La Uruca to the old Ladrillera in Calle Blancos, for maintenance, including the painting of lines.

The MOPT says the work will be carried out during the entire month of August.

The circunvalación has become a major road that diverts traffic from the west to the east without having to cross through downtown San José. It was built at a time when traffic volume was low. Now, it has become a major bottleneck at peak rush hours especially around the rotondas of La Alajuelita (Plaza America), San Sebastían (Hipermas) and Paso Ancho (La Guacamaya).

The only change to the road since it was built was the construction of an overpass at the Y Griega (Desamparados/San Francisco) rotonda, that moves through traffic over the bridge. More bridges have been planned, especially at the high volume San Sebastían rotunda, but no date has been announced.