San José - Santa Ana Highway
To Be Ready By May. Let's Hope.
Getting from La Sabana to Escazu can take up to 20 minutes and 40
minutes to Santa Ana on the autopista Próspero Fernández, as traffic
through the area has totally collapsed due to the construction of
the new San José - Caldera highway.
The 14 kilometre stretch of autopista is used by some 80.000
vehicles daily.
The worst sections are anywhere near the Sabana park, the Escazu
interchange, Multiplaza, Guachipelin and the Santa Ana exit.
From the Circunvalación to the bridge of the río Tiribí, traffic is
down to two lanes. Yes, there are four, but so narrow and full of
uneven road surface, that only one lane can be used, as work
continues to remove the concrete surface of the existing portion of
the highway, widening of the bridge and the completion of the
retaining walls.
The comes the section of the test of patience that is the Escazu
exit all the way to Multiplaza. In this section the road weaves
around the reconstruction of the Escazu ramps, the construction of
the toll booths past the EPA store and the widening of the highway
in front of Pricesmart to Multiplaza.
Once you have gotten through all of this mess, the next test of
endurance is between the Guachipelin and Santa Ana exits. Here,
between the heavy trucks carrying crushed rocks, the machinery
digging out the culverts and median and the cutting up cross
sections of the highway drain pipes, bring traffic to a complete
stop in many different points.
There are 25 different points of work in progress through the area,
where machinery and works are almost literally brushing up against
moving traffic. Many of the road dividers have been damaged, the
painted lines do not match the flow of traffic and flagmen for the
heavy trucks have no clue how a moving vehicle comes to a stop, as
they dash out with their flag, pretending that a vehicle can stop on
a dime, to allow the heavy trucks to enter.
The ministra de Transportes, Karla González and José Pablo Sáenz,
representing the road contractor, assure that the new section of the
road will be ready by May.
Sáenz added that the work is on schedule and much of the work is
being done at night and weekends.
Both the minister and the builder ask for drivers to take alternate
routes to avoid the congestion. Have they ever driven on the Pavas
or Sabana alternate, especially during rush hour?
|
|
|
|
|
|
