LANAMME

The figure of roads in good condition rose from 38 to 48 percent of the total. However, the number of miles in poor condition increased by 71 percent.

Shocking, we know, but a total of 95 percent of paved roads in Costa Rica are not of adequate quality or do not have the appropriate capacity to handle the current amount of traffic on any given day, a study by the University of Costa Rica's National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models found.

As of this week, the gravel road to Monteverde is open for transit all day, with some exceptions for construction work.

Tourists looking to save some money on a low season jaunt to Monteverde, take note. The main highway to the cloud forest national park, Route 606 between Guacimal and Santa Elena, will see road closures for six weeks starting Sept. 23, according to statement from the National Roadway Council.

Ana Luisa Elizondo Salas, appointed by President Luis Guillermo Solís as vice minister of public works and transport, has declined the post, citing personal reasons, Transport Minister Carlos Segnini said on Monday.

Two bridges currently under construction on a southern section of the Circunvalación – a belt route around the center of San José – were built with flawed cement, experts from the University of Costa Rica’s National Structural Materials and Models Laboratory announced following a much-anticipated inspection on Wednesday.

Residents of Costa Rica’s most-visited tourist destination in the Tilarán Mountains have been waiting for a new road to Monteverde for 15 years. The project is underway, but will it be finished anytime soon?

Many Monteverde business owners have been begging for a new road for decades. This week, work began on a $16 million project that will ease travel to the popular tourist destination in north-central Costa Rica.

Construction of a badly needed new road to the popular mountainous destination could begin in November.

Traffic on the major highway slowed to a crawl, with a line of vehicles stretching some three kilometers. Protesters hope for a government response this afternoon.