Inside Tips on Driving
The New Highway
Driving the new San José - Caldera highway
can be a pleasure. It is pothole free, is
well marked, has slow vehicle ramps on hills
and takes your from Chepe (San José) to the
Puerto (Caldera/Puntarenas) in less than an
hour.
But, there are some things you have to be
aware of before you set off on the new
highway.
1. Tolls. In total there are four toll
booths from San José to Caldera: Ezcazú
(¢320_, Guacima (¢480), Atenas (¢640) and
Pozón (¢490) for a total of ¢1.930, each
way. Not having enough money on hand can
leave you stranded on the highway.
2. Slow drivers. The highway seems to be
filled with slow drivers, drivers who insist
on going 40 km/h where the maximum speed
posted is 70, 80 and 100 km/h. These slow
drivers create major traffic congestion in
areas where there is no passing or slow
traffic ramps. See
Mystery of Slow Drivers On San José -
Caldera Highway Solved
3. Drivers do not move over. Costa Ricans
are known for their "king of the road"
attitude. They will not pull over, use the
slow traffic lane where available or allow
passing in spite. So, always be wary of slow
moving traffic. Always assume that around
the corner is a yatzu waiting for you to
rear end him or her.
4. No service stations. Before setting off
on the new highway, make sure, and I can't
stress this more, that you have a full tank
of gas. There are no gasoline service
stations on the highway and the nearby ones
are in towns like Atenas, Orotina and
Guacima. Walking to get gas from those
points is an adventure in itself.
5. It's dark at night. In sections between
La Sabana and Piedades, at the toll booth
centres and some sections between Pozón (Orotina)
and Caldera are illuminated, but the rest of
the highway is not. It gets dark out there
and there are populated areas to fill the
night sky. Make sure you carry a flashlight
in case you get stuck. And with that thought
in mind, make sure you have reflective
clothing, tape, etc in the trunk to let
other drivers see you in the pitch dark of
night.
6. Watch your speed. Although the highway
has posted speed limits, the road is
conducive to speeding. There are some
sections of the highway that you can easily
top 120, 140 even 150 km/h. But, guess what?
The traffic cops have figured that out also.
And have posted themselves in unlikely
places, with radar in hand, waiting for you.
For the now the fine can be around ¢20.000
colones or the cost of a lunch, depending on
the traffic cop, but come March 1, if the
new Ley deTránsito goes in effect, that fine
could be ¢200.000 and points or dinner out
with the whole family, if you know what I
mean.
7. Toll booth operators. By and large the
majority of the toll booth operators on the
new highway are courteous, greet you with a
good day or evening and bid you a "buen
viaje" (good trip), just like the electronic
sign in says. But some, well, don't even
look at you, continue their shouting
conversations with other attendants and make
you feel that you are bothering their life,
even after spending endless minutes in
traffic waiting to pay the toll. And if you
are one of those driving a van, be prepared
to pay more at some toll centres, as they
hit you with a "big vehicle" story.
8. And on tolls. I am not sure who is the
genius behind the toll fares. Why not just
make it ¢300 at Escazú, ¢500 at Guacima,
¢600 or ¢650 at Atenas and ¢500 at Pozón.
No, sir. It has to be ¢320, ¢490, ¢640 and
¢480 (respectively), which means having to
fumble for those pesky ¢5 and ¢10 coins,
then have to wait while the toll operator
counts out each coin or wait to get change
back from a ¢1.000, ¢2.000, ¢5.000 or
¢10.000 note. (Can't wait until the ¢20.000
and ¢50.000 notes come out, to pay for a
¢320 toll). For the sake of Pura Vida, just
round out the tolls to the nearest '100', it
will work out in the end.
9. On Quick Pass. The Quick Pass is the
smart way to cross the tolls. Of course not
is you are in Guacima, Atenas or Pozón,
since the Quick Pass lanes are also being
used for manual payment due to the high
volume of traffic. The idea behind the Quick
Pass is exactly that "a quick pass". The
electronic sensor reads your approach, takes
out the toll from your account, opens the
gate and lets you by. But not on the
aforementioned three toll stations, where
you get in line like the rest of us. I am
sure you are wondering what did you ever
spend the us$30 bucks for the contraption.
10. More on Quick Pass. If you decide to
splurge on the Quick Pass take note. For
one, it can only be obtained from your
nearest HSBC branch, where you will be asked
to sign up for an account that requires your
cedula or passport. Then the cost is us$30
if you are not a HSBC customer (us$15 is a
customer). To open an account to save the
us$15 be prepared for a banking bureaucracy
second to none. I won't go into that here,
want to be fair to the other banks who have
been shun out from this lucrative market.
All in all, barring the whining and
complaining, the new San José - Caldera
highway, some call it a road, is the next
best thing to sliced bread when it comes to
travelling to and from the Pacific coast.
A trip from San José La Sabana to the Puerto
Caldera is 52 minutes, traveling to and Jacó
is 70 minutes or less (without speeding and
normal traffic).To and from Tamarindo,
Flamingo, etc is now under 4 hours. San José
to Liberia under 3 hours, Playas del Coco 14
minutes more. The southern zone is now more
closer than ever, especially with the near
completion of the Costanera Sur.
So, fill up your tank, pocket full of
colones and go cruising in Pura Vida Land!
Enrico Cacciatore
Editor@ Insidecostarica.com |
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
