¢310 Tolls Each Way From San Jose to Santa Ana
April 23rd, 2009 | by admin |Travelling from San Jose to Santa Ana on the carretera a Calera (autopista Prospero Fernandez) will cost, beginning the first week in May, ¢310 colones, each way. To get to Piedades and Cuidad Colon, add another ¢160 colones.
Those are the toll booth rates announced by the Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT) for the old-new highway from the Gimnasion Nacional in La Sabana to the Pacific port of Caldera.
The MOPT assures that the San Jose - Santa Ana portion of the road will be ready for the first week in May, at which time it will begin charging tolls, in both direction.
The road will have 28 toll booths (14 in each direction) west of the Escazu intersection and another 10 toll booths east of Piedades. In total, when the road is completed to Caldera, there will be 16 toll booths at Orotina, near Pozon.
The total trip, when the road is completed, between San Jose and Caldera will cost ¢940 colones, each way.
What many residents of Escazu and Santa Ana fear is the increase in traffic on the “Calle Vieja” old road to Santa Ana, that is the only alternative to get to and from Escazu, Santa Ana and points west from La Sabana.
Many feel that a large number of drivers will elect not to pay the ¢310 colones toll to get to Multiplaza or Guachipeling or Santa Ana and another ¢310 to get back to San Jose, and will use the Calle Vieja, a two lane road that is already heavily congested.
The toll on the Prospero Fernandez was ¢75 colones until late last year when the toll booths were taken down, making way for the expansion of the highway between the Circunvalacion and Multiplaza and the reconstruction between Sabana and Circunvalacion and Mutiplaza and Piedades.
The tolls will go to the coffers of the Autopistas del Sol, the concessionaire of the old-new road to help it recover its investment for the project and turn a profit for investors.
The new tolls were confirmed by the vice-ministro de Concessiones for the MOPT, Guillermo Matamoros.
The Caldera highway, when completed next year, will also have toll booths at exits to Atenas, the Costanera (Jaco) intersection, and La Guacima. Tolls will be begin to be charged as the road construction nears completion.
Even though the San Jose - Santa Ana - Cuidad Colon portion of the road will be complete in less than two weeks and tolls will begin to be charged, traffic congestion at the Circunvalacion will not end, as construction of the widening of the Cirncunvalacion underpass will begin.
The underpass is not wide enough to allow six lanes of traffic on the autopista and needs to be widened, similar to the work at the Tiribi bridge and the bridge at Multiplaza.
