QCOSTARICA – If this had been anywhere else, the head or heads of those responsible for ordering the installation of speed bumps on a heavily trafficked major road – one of the three in and out of the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) – would figuratively be on the chopping block.
But this is Costa Rica.
Last week, drivers traveling on the section of the Autopista Florencio del Castillo, Ruta 2, between Cartago in the Ochomogo, had to come to an almost standstill following the installation of speed bumps (topes or muertos as they are often referred to) to slow down traffic.
The speed bumps did their job, reducing speed from 60 km/h and 80 km/h to 30 km/h in an area with a high traffic accident rate. But that also generated enormous traffic congestion for kilometers.
According to the press office of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) – Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, the construction company H. Solís had been authorized to install the devices.
The same company was the one that the decision to remove them.
Mario Redondo, mayor of the Municipality of Cartago, shared the same opinion of the drivers caught up in the congestion due to the placement of the speed reducers and criticized the company’s lack of communication with the local government.
