metropolitan

City works upset traffic

Traffic woes are expected to continue for at least the next year as new and existing road projects move along.

While projects such as the expansion of Avenida Balboa will eventually reduce traffic, the reality now is long delays.

Jorge Fernández/LA PRENSA

men at work:The city’s numerous road improvement projects are causing long delays for motorists, and no relief is in sight.1030521

Drivers in the capital are finding it increasingly difficult to navigate streets as the number of public projects in the downtown area multiplies. And to further aggravate the traffic situation, the Ministerio de Obras Públicas (MOP) and Instituto de Acueducto Alcantarillado Nacional (Idaan) continue to move ahead with works requiring still more detours.

This is likely to be the reality for the next 12 months, while work crews close and reopen primary and secondary roads around the major metropolitan projects, including the Cinta Costera development on Avenida Balboa and the construction of bridges at intersections on Calle 50 and Tumba Muerto.

All this in a city with a car population of 300,000, and growing at a rate of 10 percent annually, with another 67,849 vehicles registered in San Miguelito sharing downtown streets and parking.

Idaan has plans to reopen Avenida Santa Elena this afternoon, after being blocked for the last 10 days between the intersection of Ernesto T. Lefevre and Primera Parque Lefevre by crews working on the sewage system near the bay.

The avenue was scheduled to open earlier in the day, but Idaan director Juan Antonio Ducruet explained that Saturday night's rains had damaged roadwork materials, delaying plans to pave the street.

Calle Novena remains closed while Idaan installs a sewage collection tank nearby. Ducruet said pending projects will involve street closures in Tumba Muerto and Vía Tocumen, in front of the mall Los Pueblos, although disruption to traffic will be limited because the work would be conducted during nights and weekends. Dates for the project have not yet been decided, but the sewage work should be completed by March 2009 at the earliest.

Likewise, sections of Avenida 3 de Noviembre and Avenida Balboa will also remain blocked off for the construction of two bridges providing access to the new coastal belt, which Héctor Samaniego, manager of Proyectos de la Constructora Urbana S.A (Cusa), estimated would be completed in May 2009.