Orotina Residents Block Road In Protest of Poor Road Conditions
President Oscar Arias said during his campaign that "fixing" the roads would be a priority for his administration. It has been almost a week and nothing has been said on the subject, neither by Arias of his Minister of Obras Públicas y Tránsportes. So, residents of Orotina, southwest of San José, decided to take matters into their own hands.

For nearly three hours the main road that links San José to the Pacific coast was blocked off by protestors who are challenging the government to do something and defying Tránsito (traffic) officials of the area.

The Orotina road is the main road to Quepos/Manuel Antonio and Playa Jacó from San José.

Protestors used vehicles to block the bridge at San Mateo, east of Orotina and vowed not to move them until they got a response from government officials for the repair of the main road as well as the side roads in their area. The protestors want the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (CONAVI) to repair the roads and maintain them.

Without saying, the action caused a tremendous back up of traffic in both directions for both tourists and nationals. A two hour trip to and from Jacó beach, the closest beach to San José became a day adventure for some.

The heat and frayed nerves causes some confrontation between the protestors and drivers. One foreigner tried to get into one the cars blocking the bridge, in an attempt to move it. The action caused a disturbance that almost came to a fist fight.

The escalation of tempers was cooled down when protestors decided to lift the road block and let traffic through when the mayor of Orotina said he had received a note from CONAVI that they would begin repairs on Monday.

Protestors said that they will be waiting for Monday and threatened to resume the road blocks if the promise turns out to be a lie.