Well now that I have utilized the new and greatly anticipated “carretera Caldera” that extends from Escazu to Esparza (where it connects with the Pan American Highway), I do have an opinion on the matter.  I have heard the criticisms about the fact that the road is only two lanes in some areas, that there has been some environmental damage and that residents in communities along the highway have been negatively affected in various ways.  But I guess with a project this big, there is always going to be some controversy, i.e., someone’s ox will get gored.  I am sure that some of the criticism is valid and deserved.  However, on the whole, my opinion is that this highway is the best thing that has happened in this country for a long time, at least as long as I have been here, even better than passage of the T.L.C., whose anticipated positive effects may take as long to be realized as the highway did to construct.  In short, the new highway cuts drive time by about an hour to points along the entire Pacific Coast.  I made a trip to Monteverde using the new highway to get from San Jose to Esparza and then the Pan American to the point where you exit to go up the mountain in a little over TWO HOURS!  That is nothing short of amazing.  Moreover, I used far less gas than I would have before and the trip was far less stressful, both to my car and to my nervous system.  This highway is a godsend for people who want to travel within Costa Rica and that includes just about everyone.  I anticipate it will be good for foreign investment and real estate values (I read recently that Atenas is already gearing up for it) and it will be good for tourism.  One of the most oft-heard complaints from tourists is the difficulty in getting from Point A to Point B in Costa Rica.  Well, this new highway, while not perfect, is a major stride towards fixing that issue.  The times I have used it, which have been both during the week and on the weekend, my average speed was around 80 kph, or more, versus the less than 50 average one would experience crossing the mountains either via San Ramon or the dreaded (though picturesque) Monte de Aguacate route.  The new highway should also relieve some of the congestion from those old routes as the many trailers will opt to take the new highway..and they were the principal source of the problem on those more mountainous routes.  I was highly skeptical of all the talk over the last decade of how great this new highway would be, primarily for Jaco.  However, now I am convinced and the benefits will extend far greater than Jaco, which as of late has gone from being Costa Rica’s most popular beach town to Cost Rica’s biggest eyesore.  My hats off to the Arias administration for getting the job done.  Thirty-two years was a long time in the making, but better late than never.  Okay Laura, let’s see some more of that over the next four years!  But start with a pocket full of ”monedas” for the many tolls on the road (5 in all) and gas up, because you won’t see any gas stations along this route, probably for a while.

Minister of Transportation, Karla González, is sticking to her guns and swears that the Costanera Sur will be completed by December of this year.  The contractors actually have until the first trimester of 2010 under the contract, but González is vowing to complete the project well ahead of schedule.  Well, saying that it could be well ahead of schedule is a little bit silly when you consider that the idea for the Costanera was born back in 1962.  Years of delays related to corruption, incompetence and bad weather have stalled completion of this important project for almost half a century.  But hats off to the Arias administration who it looks like will be able to boast its completion once and for all.  Once inaugurated it will no longer be necessary to traverse the dangerous and sometimes deadly, yet stunningly beautiful, Cerro de la Muerte.  The trip down the Costanera Sur will cut about two hours of driving time to traverse the 222 kilometers from Barranca de Puntarenas to Palmar Sur of the Osa.  The main parts yet to be completed include the 42 kilometer stretch from Quepos to Dominical, as well as several bridges.  One of the main bridges that is very near final completion is that of Parrita, which contractors say will be done in 15 days!  Once completed you will be able to make the trip to the Southern Pacific in about 5 hours. It will be even faster when the new highway from San Jose to Caldera is completed, which will connect with the Costanera Sur.  For the future González expressed in an interview with La Nación that she would like to see the Costanera Sur traverse the complete distance from Nicaragua to Panama.

Link to Article in La Nación

This January of 2009 the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) initiated the paving of the final section of the Costanera highway, the infamous Quepos-Dominical stretch.  Once this project is complete the Costanera, an idea born some 46 years ago, will finally consist of an uninterrupted highway that travels some 222 kilometers from Barranca, Puntarenas to Palmar Norte, Osa.  MOPT has assured that the project will be completed by 2010.  This last section consists of 42 kilometers that have long been considered once of the worst stretches of non-paved “highway” in the country.  What makes it all even more maddening for tourists and locals are the thousands of tractor-trailers that have to use the highway for commercial purposes and thereby kick up tons of dust each day.  The cost of the project is about $37 million.  There are two sections where the work will commence, but the MOPT gives assurances that the work will ensue simultaneuously so as to speed up completion.  Those are the Quepos to Savegre section of 19.5 kilometers and the Savegre to Dominical section of 22.6 kilometers.  Each section is the responsibility of a different contracting firm.  According to MOPT the work should be completed in about ten months, barring any unforeseen interruptions.  MOPT says that completing this section of the Costanera is vital also to the new Caldera route and the overall effects of these projects will be to reduce the number of trucks in the Central Valley.  MOPT also stated that this new route will be wider than originally planned to increase the capacity of traffic flow.  The paving of this section of the Costanera has been anticipated for many years by real estate developers and owners in the area who expect its actual completion to be a boon to Southern Pacific real estate, since the area will have much easier access from the Central Pacific and Central Valley.

Link to Article in La Nación

The Costa Rican Minister of Public Works, Karla González, vowed that the Costanera Sur, specifically the 42 kilometers that connect Quepos with Barú, will be completed by September of 2009.  She made this promise with Oscar Arias as her witness during the inauguration of three of the eight bridges that will ultimately be located on the highway.  Once complete the entire Costanera will run from Barranca to Palmar Norte, a distance of 278 paved kilometers.  The 42 kilometer stretch at issue is regarded as one of the worst and most dreaded roads in the country.  The bridges that were recently opened are those crossing the rivers Paquita, Potalón and Matapalo.  Residents of those communities have waited for their completion for three decades.  The next step will be to pave the 42 kilometer stretch at a cost of $34 million. It is estimated that the paving will take approximately one year, meaning that it is possible that the highway will be inaugurated in September of next year. 

Link to Article in La Nación (in Spanish):

http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/agosto/13/pais1659797.html

Despite the fact that delays have increased the cost of completion some $31 million, the Minister of Public Works, Karla Gonzáles, promises that the road will be completed in 2009.  We are talking about the 42 kilometer stretch of road that begins at the airport in Quepos and ends in Baru right before Dominical.  This road is famous for being one of the worst stretches of non-paved road in the country. Well, it looks like, despite inevitable delays, the road will actually be paved during our lifetimes!  The reason for the delay is that funds were appropriated for construction prior to completion of environmental impact studies that delayed the actual paving two years.  The increase in funds needed is due to the fact that materials have dramatically increased in price during the period of delay. Once completed the entire Costanera will span 288 uninterrupted paved kilometers from Barranca to Palmar Norte and will link the Port of Caldera to the Southern border with Panama.  The Quepos to Baru segment spans one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the country.  Property values along the route are sure to get a boost from the paving of this stretch of the Costanera that has long been known as one of Costa Rica’s most notoriously bad roads.

Link to Article in La Nación (in Spanish):

http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/julio/07/pais1600272.html

35 years ago (in 1973 to be exact) the then President Figueres Ferrer had the idea to create a highway connecting San Jose with the port of Caldera on the Pacific Coast.  Well finally this January work is well underway to make this dream a reality.  Photos that appeared recently in El Financiero confirm that the section from Cuidad Colón to Orotina is indeed under construction.  There is electricity in the air as Costa Ricans await the opening of this important highway, scheduled for sometime in mid-2010.  Here are some facts.

• The first and final sections of the highway that extend from La Sabana Park to Ciudad Colón and from Orotina to Caldera are already in use, but improving them is part of the ultimate plan.
• The section that is under construction will extend from Ciudad Colón to Orotina, a stretch of 38 kilometers (24 miles).  The scheduled completion date is July of 2010.
• The total distance from La Sabana to Caldera will be 76 kilometers (or 47 miles).
• The total drive time from San Jose to Caldera, once the highway is completed, will be about 70 minutes.
• This will reduce by 45 minutes the time it takes using the current mountainous route of Monte del Aguacate.
• The cost of the construction will be $230 million.
• The company constructing the highway Autopistas del Sol, has 25 years to recover the cost of construction via several peajes (toll booths) that will be stationed along the highway.

Already folks are expecting a great economic boost from the new highway. It is exciting to see that the current administration of Oscar Arias is accomplishing so much in terms of improving the infrastructure for Costa Ricans as well as those who visit the country.

Pura Vida Arias!

After 30 years of delay, the long-awaited start of construction on the Caldera Highway will commence this month according to the CNC (Consejo Nacional de Concesiones). The section of the highway extending from Ciudad Cólon to Orotina is expected to be completed in thirty months, or by July 2010. The finance-related impasse was overcome the 21st of December when Autopistas del Sol reached an agreement with the BCIE (Banco Centroamerica de Integración Económica and the Caja de Madrid (a Spanish financial institution) to finance construction of the road, valued at $230 million.

The total route will cover 77 kilometers (48 miles) and will link the capital of San Jose with the country’s most important port of Caldera, running through the towns of Santa Ana, Ciudad Colón, Atenas and Orotina. The road will require a pretty hefty toll of about $2.70. However, it will reduce the drive time to Jaco by about 30 minutes, from the current 2 to 2.5 hours. The road will have two lanes on the uphill segments and one lane on the downhills. This will help faster cars avoid the slow moving tractor-trailers.

This road has been long-awaited by the investing community and will surely give rise to increases in property values in areas benefited by the new highway.