COSEVI Criticizes Cartago Bike Path

The photo shows the final results of a bike path recently built in Cartago. At first look the eye is drawn to the post in the middle of the path. But that is not the danger.



Siliva Bolaños, director of the Consejo de Seguridad Vial (COSEVI), explains the real danger is that the bike path is very wide, built on a narrow street. "This can cause traffic congestion problems", says the director.

Bolaños adds, "the objective is for leisure, when it really should be used to transport people".

The bike path is about six kilometres of track designed specifically for cyclists, weaving through the Viejo Metropoli (Old Metropolis, as Cartago is sometimes referred to) from the Central Market to the Polideportivo and Colegio Universitario.

The work was funded by the Federación Internacional de Automovilismo (International Automobile Federation) with a donation of US$700.000 dolllars and a Municipalidad de Cartago (Municipality) contribution of ¢70 million colones (US$138.000).

For the municipality's mayor, Rolando Rodríguez, "the bike path is a great achievement for the city".

However, the COSEVI does not agree, since the bike path was constructed without recommendations from any institution, especially the COSEVI, which is responsible for road planning and safety.

"It is a serious error", according to the COSEVI, stressing that the direct coordination with state institutions is vital for projects of this type.

"The country's progress must be well planned and coordinated. It's a fairly expensive public work that can cause problems in the future", said Bolaños of the Cartago bike path.