San José -
Caldera Could
Re-Open This
Week
Today is an
important day,
for following 17
days of total
closure of the
11 kilometres of
the Atenas -
Orotina section
of the San José
- Caldera, the
decision could
made to re-open
and as soon as
this the next
couple of days.
The decision to
re-open or
continue closed
will be based on
a report that is
to be tabled
today on the
progress of the
work by
Autopistas, the
road
concessionaire.
The Ministerio
de Obras
Públicas y
Transportes (MOPT)
will be basing
its decision on
the report by
engineers if the
risk of
landslides and
rock falls has
been minimized.
With the start
of the rainy
season, the new
road that was
officially
opened in
January, some
six months in
ahead of
schedule,
suffered a
series of land
slides and rock
falls that put
drivers at risk
between
kilometres 37
and 48.
One death was
directly
attributed to
the falling
rocks, a woman
who has the
passenger on a
motorcycle that
slammed into a
big rock in the
middle of the
night.
In total, the
new highway has
claimed five
lives, though
most were due to
excessive
speeding and "maniobras
indebidas" (bad
driving) and
dubbed "la
autopista de la
muerte" (highway
of death).
The problems
with the
landslides and
rock falls
caused the
highway to be
partially closed
numerous times,
with a total
closure for
several hours on
one occasion.
Francisco
Jiménez,
ministro del
MOPT, the latest
inspection is to
determine the
status of the
work and the
minimization of
risk to drivers.
Although the
inspections have
already been
carried out, the
details of the
inspection and
decision to
re-open will be
make public
today.
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