It appears that even lawmakers have finally realized what they’ve done. Many of them are actually supporting the delay of the recently approved new traffic law.
The new traffic law is called "draconian" by everyone who read the document. It introduces many requirements that the majority of the drivers will not be able to fulfil in time. It also increases the fines to the ridiculous level: no seat belt-$700 (more than the average MONTHLY salary); burnt light bulb – $300 (why or why?? things do happen, where on earth can you find a light bulb in the middle of the night?), the list goes on.
It is certain that the new law will only inspire more bribery. Read more »
Several months ago HSBC started offering the “Quick Pass”, a previously unknown device (for Costa Rica) that would speed a driver through the toll stations of the updated highway from San Jose to the port of Caldera, saving 10 or more minutes at each passing. Read more »
A water line under the Heredia – La Uruca highway broke on Sunday, and as a result, a quickly formed giant hole cut off two lanes. The damaged road is south of the bridge over the Rio Virilla. Officials are asking drivers to avoid this very congested route.
Because of the urgency, the transport ministry is lending machinery to the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados to aid in the repair of that massive hole that makes the commute even worse than usual.
Ruta (highway) 245 that runs along the east side of the Osa Peninsula just got a $30 million face lift. 8 bridges were constructed from scratch to make an all-weather road of the 21-mile stretch between Puerto Jimenez and Rincon south.
The improved highway is good for tourism. Now motorists can use it to reach roads that go to Parque Nacional Corcovado in dry or wet weather conditions.
The price of gasoline dropped ¢39 last Friday.
As a result, some of the Shell gas stations have run out of gas!
Fabricio Pereira, general manager of Shell Costa Rica, explained that when price drops, the demand exceeds the capacity of storage reservoirs. Read more »
The residents of Santa Ana are very unhappy with what they believe is a disproportionately high toll amount.
Ombudsman’s office (The Defensoría de los Habitantes) said it has begun a investigation into tolls to be charged at the Santa Ana toll booths of the San Jose – Port Caldera highway. They will be paying twice more than they are paying now and it appears that the traffic congestion in the area will only get worse.
The residents are asking the Defensoría to propose to the Ministerio de Obras Publica y Transportes (MOPT) to provide a reduced toll for Santa Ana residents or to build a third lane across the entire highway as was originally announced.
The Ombudsman’s office has also opened a case file for the $35 million US dollar overspend of the highway.
Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) approved another price drop.
The price will go down by ¢32 colones for diesel, ¢39 for regular and ¢32 for super.
Once the new prices are published in La Gaceta, the official government publication, the following prices take effect: a litre of super gasoline will cost ¢452 (currently ¢484), regular ¢435 (now ¢474), and diesel ¢354 (now ¢386).
The trial runs at two toll booths began on Friday. The drives were not charged yet, but were given a paper ticket. The goal of the exercise was to determine how bad the line ups are going to be once the actual charging commences.
Unfortunately, just like in the past, long lines were common, with many driver complaining during the dry run of the toll system.
When the booths begin to charge drivers, the cost each way for light vehicles will be ¢310 colones at Escazu and ¢160 at Santa Ana.
Source: Nacion
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August 28, 2009 8:39 am
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