Public works plans attack
on bad bridges, stalled jobs


The public works ministry will embark on a 100-day effort to fix deteriorating bridges and to push for expropriating land needed for road projects.

Francisco Jiménez, minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes, said Wednesday that he also will review the downtown San José traffic restrictions in August and possibly institute some changes. These are the restrictions where 20 percent of the vehicles in the nation are prohibited from traveling there during daytime hours.

The bridges have been abandoned for more than 30 years, said the minister. There have been two major tragedies as a result of faulty bridges and two aggravating situations.  A public bus loaded with passengers toppled off a swinging bridge into the Río Tarcoles and a pothole in another bridge caused a tourist to swerve his passenger vehicle triggering a spectacular collision between a semi-truck and a gasoline tanker. In both accidents persons died.

The aggravating situations are two expansion joints in the roadway at bridges in the General Cañas highway. No matter what efforts workmen employ there, the joints open up in a short time. In one location a steel plate was put over the joint. The situations have led to road closings and restrictions on traffic in the vital highway.

The ministry has about $300 million to work with, thanks to a loan from the Banco Interamericana de Desarrollo. This money will go toward building a roadway between the autopista Bernardo Soto and Sifón and between La Abundancia and Ciudad Quesada. The money also will go toward completion of the San José-San Ramón highway. The money from the loan will not be used for repairing bridges, the minster said. That money will have to come out of the regular budget, he said.

Jiménez also said he was appointing experts to negotiate with landowners who are holding up highway work by refusing to sell their properties. In most cases Costa Rica does not take land and then litigate the price later, although the minister said that is a possibility. The projects include the Paso Ancho traffic circle, land in San Carlos, in Caldera and in Bajos de Chilmater, the minister said.


Stiff traffic fines remain
in force under new law


Transportation officials emphasized Wednesday that the traffic law that went into effect March 1 still rules even though the previous legislature wanted to make changes.

That means there still is a system of points through which drivers can lose their license. Those caught driving with .5 grams of alcohol in the blood are subject to a 293,400-colon fine (about $560), and the vehicle will be impounded. Those caught with more than .75 grams of alcohol in the blood also will have their vehicle impounded, but they will go to prosecutors, the law says.

Carrying a child without a special seat in a car or carrying a child on a motorcycle without helmet also results in a $293,400-colon fine.

Transport officials also said that bicyclists also have to wear a helmet, have to stay off major highways and must wear a reflective vest from dusk to dawn and in bad weather.  Jaywalkers also can be fined as well as those throwing garbage in the right-of-way, they said.

Bike riders without helmets face a 286,025-colon fine, officials said. That's about $544.