Costa Rican authorities will temporarily reverse traffic flow on Route 27 on Sunday, April 5, to handle the expected wave of drivers returning to the capital after the Easter break. The measure will apply on Easter Sunday, the final day of the Semana Santa recess and the day before most people return to work and school.
Under the plan, all available lanes between Pozón and the toll plaza at the Ciudad Colón interchange, a stretch of about 47 kilometers, will operate only in the direction of San José from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Authorities said the decision follows traffic patterns seen in past years, when large numbers of vacationers head back from beach and coastal destinations at the end of Holy Week.
Traffic toward the Pacific will be suspended for a longer window, from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m., to keep vehicles from meeting head on while the reversible setup is in place. Officials have also set a temporary speed limit of 60 kilometers per hour for the operation, with signage and Transit Police on site to regulate the flow.
The measure is aimed mainly at easing the return of drivers coming from Puntarenas and Guanacaste, though it can also benefit travelers coming north from the southern Pacific coast and rejoining the route toward the Central Valley. Route 27 is one of the country’s busiest holiday corridors, linking the San José metro area with Caldera and the Pacific coast.
For traveministrylers planning to leave San José for the coast that afternoon, the message is simple: do it early or wait until the evening. Once the closure toward the Pacific begins at 1 p.m., westbound access on that section of the highway will be halted for several hours. Drivers returning to the capital should still expect heavy traffic, even with the reversible lanes in place, and authorities are advising motorists to follow temporary signs and police instructions closely.
The Easter Sunday operation is part of a broader Holy Week traffic plan. San José’s weekday license-plate driving restriction has been suspended throughout the holiday period and will resume on Monday, April 6, for vehicles ending in 1 and 2. That change is intended to free up traffic police for holiday road operations and reduce pressure on outbound and inbound vacation routes.
Drivers who need updates on conditions along Route 27 or roadside assistance can contact the concessionaire’s control center at 2588-4040, according to the public works .
