QCOSTARICA — Based on comments on social networks and the Policia de Transito (Traffic Police) reports, traffic in the afternoon and evening of August 14, the day before Mother’s Day, was chaotic in the Greater Metropolitan Area of San Jose (GAM), drivers spending up to two or three hours to get home from work.
Oswaldo Miranda, director of the Traffic Police, acknowledged on Thursday that what happened on the eve of Mother’s Day can only be compared to the chaos that occurred with the beginning of the rainy season.
On Wednesday, between noon and midnight, traffic slowed down to downpours, overflowing sewers, and flooded streets, with some 70 traffic incidents (50 in the GAM alone) between 1 pm and 9 pm.
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Miranda said that in a normal 12-hour workday, the reports do not exceed 30.
A good part of the road incidents of the day were caused by carelessness (looking at their cell phone), stress, or not reacting adequately.
Some reasons for the road chaos
“We had a fairly high peak with traffic congestion, despite the fact that the Hatillo viaduct was enabled. However, we still have the marginal roads under construction. We also have work on Florencio del Castillo.
“But yesterday (Wednesday) there was also an accident on Route 1 in the San José-Alajuela direction that not only collapsed this road but also other nearby ones and that did not relieve the congestion,” Miranda explained.
In addition to the two points mentioned above, the head of the Traffic Police also mentioned that downtown San José traffic collapsed, with reports of taking more up to two hours to leave the downtown area, headed west.
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Traffic culture (lack of)
Given the situation, on Wednesday, the so-called Special Operations Group of the Traffic Police was put into action.
This is a small unit that is usually assigned to special, very specific tasks, but due to the traffic chaos, it had to support the rest of the officers in the Hatillo sector and the Florencio del Castillo, according to Miranda.
“All this is done in an effort to achieve a user-driver culture and to accept the dynamics. It is a matter of culture,” he said.
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