28 Years Later, Circunvalación, Has Yet To Be Completed
It started on October 12, 1978. And today, it still has to be completed. What we are referring to is the construction of the "circunvalación" - ring road around San José - to eliminate the amount of traffic to the downtown area.

The project began during the Rodrigo Carazo Odio (1978-1982) administration, and today, October 12, 2006 - 28 years later, the road is still missing a major part on the north side of the ring.

The circunvalación currently begins in La Uruca by the Burger King and ends in Goigochea, just north of the new Hipermas.

Karla González, the current minister of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), says that the completion of the road is beyond their control and that there is no end in sight.

The minister says that the major problems the completion is the building of new bridges and the "rotondas" - round abouts - that have now become obsolete as evidenced by the daily constant problems at the rotondas on the south portion of the circunvalación.

Minister González added that until the current problems are solved, the completion of the circunvalación has to wait and is becoming a distant reality.

"Even if the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi) sends us the money, the money will only be enough to maintain the currently road network", said González.

Minister Gonzáles said that the bridge at Quebrada Rivera, for example, would cost us$7 million dollars and that is beyond the financial possibilities of the Conavi. She added "we hope to get as soon as possible a loan of us$170 millin dollars from from the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE), in which we can shape the work", referring to a possible re-alignment of the road from the original proposal.

The portion of the circunvalación not completed would pass thoguh Calle Blancos and would relieve the pressure on the current route that goes trough la Uruca and Cinco Esqiunas de Tibás and becomes a bottleneck during rush hours.