San José - Caldera
Highway: New Highway, But Same Old
Drivers
Thousands saw their dream of travelling to
the Pacific coast in less than an hour from
San José vanish as heavy traffic and
desperation took over.
It appears that many Costa Ricansused the
first weekend of the San José - Caldera
highway or route 27, to see for themselves
what the fuss is all about.
The heavy traffic problem of Saturday was
compounded even more by drivers moving along
at 45 km/h when the posted speed limit was
80 km/h and would not pull aside to let
traffic pass them by. Add to that the
inexperienced and new toll booth attendants,
who just could not keep pace with the number
of vehicles.
The heavy traffic was also due to the fact
that this weekend is the real last weekend
of the school vacation period. School
children go back to school beginning on
February 10 and next weekend are the
presidential elections.
Without a doubt the panoramic view offered
on the drive is spectacular, but would be
even better if traffic on the mostly two
lane highway moved along at least the posted
speed limit.
In some places traffic backed up for more
than a kilometre or more, made worse by
several small fender benders that allowed
many to bask in the hot afternoon sun while
waiting for the Tránsitos (traffic police)
to arrive on the scene.
And, speaking of Tránsitos, this would have
been a perfect weekend for taking advantage
of speeding vehicles - if one would have had
the chance to speed - going through the not
yet familiar radar traps.
Drivers along the new highway to Caldera
also face four toll booths: Escazú, Guacima,
Atenas and Orotina, costing ˘1.930 colones
each way. A small sum if considering the
savings in time , fuel and vehicle
deterioration.
Ideally, under normal traffic condition, it
should take between 45 and 50 minutes to
travel from the Sabana park to the Caldera
port. However, yesterday, the travelling
time was not different than that of the last
several decades.
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Traffic on the San José -Caldera highway slowed down the trip that was to have taken less than an hour, and backed up for 1/2 kilometres or more at the Atenas toll booths. |
