Costanera Sur Promised Complete By 2009

Costanera Sur Promised Complete By 2009
The ministra de Obras Publicas y Transportes, Karla González, has promised to complete the Costanera Sur, the Pacific coastal highway, by October 2009. The road has in the planning and construction stage for the last 29 years.

The famous Costanera Sur will be become a reality with the help of an us$850 million loan by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), that has yet to be approved by the Costa Rican legislature.

Three of the highway's major bridges were inaugurated earlier this week, after many delays in construction and failed promises by government officials. The three bridges are part of eight bridges that connect Quepos to Dominical, built over the Paquita, Portalón, and Matapalo rivers.

The Costanera Sur, the stretch of road between Quepos and Barú near the Panamian border, is the section that is has been in the planning and construction stages for decades. The section north of Quepos to Jaco is almost complete with the final construction of the Parrita bridge.

González promised that the Costanera Sur will be paved within the year completing the project.

The project got a boost in 2003 with a us$60 million dollar loan from the Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economica (BCIE).

Once the highway is complete it will mean a definite boost to tourism of the area and traffic between Quepos and points like Dominical and points south will increase. The 20 kilometre stretch of the highway between Quepos and Dominical currently takes two hours to traverse.

In addition to the increase tourism potential, the completed Costanera Sur will mean more transportation freedom for area residents and an additional route to the Interamericana Sur to get from San Jose to the Southern zone.