With their backs up against the wall with the traffic congestion in La Circunvalación, the MOPT/Conavi, put in to place the bright idea of converting the new three lane bridge into four lanes.
What his means is that drivers will be asked to respect the narrow lines and drive at high speeds with only centimeters between cars. Literally, if a beer truck is beside you, you can grab a bottle off the truck!
The measure of putting all four lanes of traffic on the new bridge is to reduce traffic congestion on the Circunvalación and surrounding areas. Great idea given that it can take more than 30-45 minues to travel less than a kilometre and all the night closures. But…
Yes, there is “paso regulado” (regulated traffic) and lots of tránsitos (traffic officials) in the area. But it doesn’t mean that all drivers will respect the situation, given that most of the time the officials have their fingers up their nose doing “la vista gorda” – a term in Spanish used to say “looking the other way”.
It could work and probably will until some yahoo causes an accident – with any luck non fatal – and authorities will be forced to revert to a more safe practice of moving traffic through the area. I think I would prefer the congestion than being side swiped or worse forced off the bridge.
In the meantime, work crews continue with the removal of the remaning two Bailey bridges and the construction of a second permanent structure that will, when complete, move traffic through six lanes on a four lane road. The measure will also mean that June or July is now OK to finish and not worry much about the early May deadline.
Pura via, mae!
