A Panama Grinch spoiled a Christmas event and created gridlock

Timing is everything, and organizing a slow moving parade on  the Cinta Costera at a time when thousands of seasonal holidaymakers are returning to the city is not good timing.

The parade of inflated balloons, a government project attracted scores of thousands of spectators for the 4 pm start on December 26. But the traffic snarl had started long before on Balboa, with cars not allowed to turn left. On Justo Arosemena, already a daily crawl,  traffic had reached a standstill by 3.30 pm, and from a vantage point high above, not a traffic cop in sight. On Balboa, the grassed traffic island  down the center of the road had become a parking lot or cross over  for hundreds of cars.

At 7.15 pm, the air filled giant balloons, no longer visible in the dark, were still bobbing along the coastal strip three and a hald hours after the first one left the Gish Market. Bands dutifully continued playing, joined by a cacophony of honks and toots from thousands of frustrated motorists.

All the side streets leading from Balboa towards  Justo Arosemena  were jammed with vehicles, many ignoring one way street signs, and for over an hour there was total gridlock. Metro buses faced extra problems after being diverted from Arosemena, when they came to turn onto Avenida Mexico in front of the College of Lawyers. Illegally parked cars blocked both sides of the road, and buses were forced to reverse and  make several attempts, further slowing any progress.

The parade, before darkness, brought joy to thousands of children, many of them from poorer neighborhoods who had arrived by public transport or walked long distances to see woereing balloons depicting cartoon characts, Santa, stockings, candy canes and more (when they could still be seen). But who was the government Grinch that spoiled what could have been an enjoyable event by not learning the basic rules of timing.

A morning parade, starting at 8 or 9, would have finished before the homecomers reached the Bridge of the Americas, and at mid-morning on December 26, with businesses closed, the streets of Panama were deserted.

At 8 pm the streets of Bella Vista had achieved the perfect traffic storm, and many local residents were unable to leave their buildings.

The event was a cooperation between Panama’s government and a private company.