San José - Caldera Highway, Finally Open Today
January 28th, 2010 | by admin |The new highway will be a boost to tourism.
Finally, after more than three decades of planning, promises, starts, stops and delays, the San José - Caldera highway, is a reality. Travel between the interior of Costa Rica and the Pacific coast is at least 45 minutes faster.
On Wednesday, Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, officially inaugurated the highway at a ceremony in Orotina..
The highway officially was opened to traffic Wednesday night and the toll stations began collecting at midnight.
Even though the highway is now open and the tolls are being charged, parts of the road is still missing signaling, bus stop bays, lighting and rail guards.
What the highway means to many is a savings in time, fuel and wear and tear on their vehicle, however, Ruta 27 is not cheap. A round trip between the Sabana, San José and Puerto Caldera, Puntarenas, costs ¢3.860 in tolls (¢1.930 in each direction), for the 77 kilometer trip that takes less than an hour.
Until yesterday, the only routes to and from the Pacific coast from San José was the Cambronero or the Desmonte (Aguacate), which took almost two hours to make the trip between San José and Puntarenas.
The new San José - Caldera highway now means the trip takes less than an hour and no mountains to climb or descend. Also, the new road offers passing lanes at points where there some gentle climbs, allowing slow moving traffic to the right.
