Q COSTA RICA – The Radial de Lindora (ruta 147), the road between the Ruta 27 and the Virilla river, by far one of the worst in terms of traffic congestion may soon pass from a two lane road to five.
The two lane road has a traffic volume of some 32,000 vehicles daily.
At peak hours on weekdays it can take from 30 to 40 minutes or more to move from the Matra dealership to the paper plant, ahead of the Virilla river bridge.
Located on this short stretch of road are strip shopping centres, the Forum II business park that houses some of the more prestigious companies in the country, the newly built Terrazas Lindora mall, that includes cinemas and the Maserati dealership, and the Lindora gated housing developments.
Plans to expand the radial began several years ago.
On Friday, the CGR gave the green light for the project, giving its endorsement to the agreement between Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi) – National Road Council, and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), for the design and construction of the expansion project, for a cost of US$8.5 million dollars.
The expansion of this road has been stagnated since 2014 due to delays first in the relocating of public services and then because the contract with UNOPS had not been endorsed by the Contraloría General de la República (CGR) – Comptroller General’s office.
Under the agreement, the UNOPS will be responsible for the hiring and supervising of the construction company to carry out the work on the project, that includes a two kilometre stretch between Santa Ana and San Antonio de Belen.
The project calls for a five lane road – two lanes in each direction with a centre lane for left turns and expansion work on the bridges over the Corrogres river on the south end and the Virilla river on the north. The latter is not part of the UNOPS contract, rather a secondary contract.
The project is expected to take 23 months (one year and 11 months) from the moment the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) gives the order to start.
Last January, the CGR did not endorse the contract, saying that the Conavi did not have the necessary budget to sign the agreement with the UNOPS. At the time, the Conavi could only certify it had available only US$3.5 million dollars and the balance would be available at the completion of the project.
Source: La Nacion; MOPT
