QCOSTARICA – Travel on the Autopista General Cañas or Ruta 1, in the area of the Firestone plant, will be a nightmare starting next week when the main artery between San Jose and Alajuela is reduced from six lanes to three.
And one of them will be exclusively for buses during rush hour.
This was announced Thursday by the authorities of the National Highway Council (Conavi), who are in charge of developing the Obras Impostergables (OBIS) – Impossible Works – on the busy road in and out of San Jose.
The need to close the lanes, the application of reversibility and traffic diversions is due to the expansion works on the bridge and over the Río Segundo.
María José Alvarado, the spokesperson for the project, explained that authorization is already in place to apply the changes, but as of this Thursday a period of partial closings for the corresponding demarcation is just beginning and that it will not be until February 19 to have everything ready to begin with the total closure plan of three of the six lanes.
The traffic will have different handling as the hours of the day go by and it must be borne in mind that, of the three lanes that will be enabled, one of them will be during peak hours for the exclusive passage of buses.
In this way, it is contemplated that:
- From 12 midnight at 12 noon, there will be two lanes San José bound and one Alajuela bound
- From 12 noon at 12 midnight, there will be two lanes bound for Alajuela and one bound for San José
To this, during three hours in the morning and three in the afternoon, one of the lanes will be reserved exclusively for buses:
- From 6 am to 9 am, one lane will be an exclusive lane for buses in the direction of San José-Alajuela
- From 4 pm at 7 pm there will be an exclusive lane for buses in the Alajuela-San José direction
“While these works are being developed, traffic congestion is inevitable, so it is necessary that we resort to measures such as the ones we are announcing today to reduce the impact and later enjoy the benefits that the expansion works will bring us,” said the director of Conavi, Mario Rodríguez.
To apply the road changes and lane closures, drivers will notice from this Thursday various actions, such as the placement of signage, demolition of the dividing barrier, among others.
“For the moment, the vehicle measures will be taken only on Route No. 1, for which it is requested that drivers drive with great caution, avoid the rubberneck effect and respect the signs and indications of the construction workers, in a manner that the impact on the traffic flow is the least possible,” indicated authorities of Conavi.
The works will definitely have an impact on travelers using the General Cañas to get to the San Jose airport to catch a flight.
It is recommended to either allow more than ample time or take alternate routes, taking into account that they might also be congested.
The works will expand the road to eight lanes (four in each direction), and comes at a cost of US $4.3 million and should be ready in the second half of this year.
Alternate routes suggested by the MOPT:
