Traffic and the never ending story grind on

If it’s beginning to sound like The Never Ending Story or a broken record, get used to it. Panama city is moving towards what could be a two yeartraffic nightmare.

 While the 13.7 km  Metro Line One combined with the new Metro bus system should ultimately make getting from A to B easier, the next year is not going to be pleasant for drivers.

And when traffic jams caused by construction work start to ease, there is still the problem that over 3,000 new cars a month are appearing on the streets. Good for car dealers, but not for existing drivers or the environment. Panamanians love their cars, and for many the “keeping up with the Jones’s”  syndrome  looms largeand big cars are seen as a status symbol. It will take a determined re-education campaign to get people from behind the wheel and into public transport.

In the meantime  many months of what the transport authority likes to call “discomfort”  lie ahead, for drivers and bus passengers

Most of the projects  have a  projected duration of 10 to 12 months, according to the Metro secretariat  which confirms that in the next year 12 subway stations will be built simultaneously and drivers are urged to have patience  and  to use caution.

Roads with high vehicle already affected by closures and diversions are Justo Arosemena, Via Espana and Transistimica. 

A section of  Via Espana was closed Wednesay  for the construction of the "Via Argentina" subway station. The work is between 57th Street East (near Banesco) and 55th Street East ( in front of the PIEX store.).

In the area of Avenida Justo Arosemena vehicular passage between 38th Street (by the buildings of National Hospital) and 40th Street (adjacent to the hospital parking area). But so far despite the diversions, traffic in the area remains fluid during "most of the day," said Chief Inspector of the transport authority, Francisco Sanjur.

On Transístmica, where work has been going on since May19 chaos, reigns, even in adjacent streets, such as El Ingenio during peak hours.

 Meanwhile, in Los Andes traffic is heavy most of the day.