San José - Caldera
Completely Collapsed On Sunday
Sunday was another nightmare for the
thousands headed for the Pacific coast using
the new San José - Caldera highway, as the
traffic jams on the new road began at
Piedades de Santa Ana ramp. Although the new
road promised a trip to Pacific coast in
less than an hour, such was not the case
yesterday or Saturday.
Some of the reasons explaining the traffic
nightmare combines the thousands of curious
with wanting to drive on a road that took
more than 30 years to make a reality, the
inexperience of the toll booth collectors
who were slow to make change, causing back
ups at toll stations like Atenas and Guacima
and the slow poke drivers, who continue to
insist on driving at 45 kph when the speed
limit is 80 kph.
Add to that that this was the last "real"
weekend of the summer vacations, before
children head back to school on February 10.
Since next week is an election weekend and
many will stay close to home to vote and/or
participate in the elections process.
Officials of the Autopistas del Sol, the
company that privately operates the road
under a concession agreement with the
government, admit that the number of users
this weekend exceed expectations.
The worst congestion was between Escobal and
Atenas. Most of this stretch of road is only
two lanes - one in each direction - and the
toll operators at Atenas are new.
The congestion raised the question of why
the road was only two lanes when four lanes
had been promised before the consession
contract and the high cost of tolls when the
trip is no better that going over the
Desmonte (Aguacate) or Cambronero to get to
the Pacific coast.
As to the tolls, questions again are why
charge ˘490 instead of ˘500, when the latter
would make it easier for making change and
thus reduce congestion at the toll stations.
Some drivers were miffed at the Atenas
stations as toll managers decided to allow
traffic to use the "quick pass" lane to ease
congestion, forcing those few who have the
quick pass to line up as well.
Autopistas de Sol officials say this weekend
was an "exception", a situation experienced
by many new highways around the world and
that the situation will normalize itself
with an expected 10.000 or so vehicles daily
using the highway.
The number of vehicles using the highway
over the weekend was estimated at 25.000 per
day.
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Congestion on the new San José - Caldera highway began at Piedades de Santa Ana and continued to Atenas, as traffic on the road was more than expected. |
