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.

One thing that has been less than painfully evident during the administration of Oscar Arias is that Costa Rica’s road are really getting better.  A major case in point is the new stretch from Orotina to Caldera.  I can remember the days when those 24 kilometers could take up to one hour to traverse.  Now, at 100 kilometers per hour, you can make it in about 15 minutes.  The road was also once littered with axle breaking potholes as if the place had been air-bombed or meteor-showered.  Now it appears as slick as a U.S. engineered highway.  One thing that does rain on your parade is the toll-fare one has to pay to enjoy the ride….480 colones, or around $0.80 to be exact.  That makes it one of the most expensive tolls in the country.  But, I guess that’s the price of progress.  The 24 kilometer stretch is part of the new highway from San Jose to Caldera, that has been in the works, and which now really is “in the works,” for the last 30 some years.  The highway also features very useful aspects such as places where buses can actually exit the highway to pick up and drop off passengers, rather than just stopping in the road….as is the case with most of Costa Rica’s highways.  The company that was granted the concession to build the highway, Autopistas del Sol, is responsible to fix any fissures or holes that appear within 24 hours.  For folks that live in the area, it is planned to construct roads that allow easy entrance and exit and that avoid the “peajes” or tolls, so folks can take advantage of the new road without having to pay almost a buck each time they do so.  All in all, I give Oscar Arias an A+ for his stewardship of Costa Rica infrastructure during his four-year watch.  I can remember the days of the Pacheco administration when one literally took his life into his hands while traversing stretches of road like this one.  Pura Vida Don Oscar!