Government plans traffic-light-free route from Santo Domingo to the Cibao region

The Dominican government says drivers leaving Santo Domingo for the northern region will eventually be able to travel without stopping at traffic lights, after the construction of three overpasses on the Duarte Highway.

Public Works Minister Eduardo Estrella presented the plan during a conversation with President Luis Abinader on the weekly government program LA Agenda Semanal. One of the three structures has already been awarded, another is in the award process, and the third has been put out to tender through the RD Vial Trust.

Abinader summed up the expected effect for viewers and listeners: "That means, Eduardo, so that those listening and watching can understand, there will be no traffic lights for leaving Santo Domingo toward the north." Estrella said the broader road network could eventually allow drivers to travel from Montecristi to Punta Cana without stopping at a traffic light once planned bypasses are completed.

The proposal forms part of a wider effort to redesign access routes around Greater Santo Domingo. The government cited work at Plaza de la Bandera, Isabel Aguiar Avenue, Ecological Avenue and the Duarte Highway entrance. It is also tendering an expansion of roughly four kilometers of the Sánchez Highway, from the toll plaza to the Santo Domingo Bypass, to create alternatives for traffic arriving from the south and the Cibao region.

Estrella said the plan would provide three entrances to the capital. Other projects include improvements to República de Colombia and Jacobo Majluta avenues, a new connection near the Botanical Garden, and an overpass on the Sabana Perdida road near a Santo Domingo cable-car station. The ministry said it is also working on bypasses in Navarrete, Los Alcarrizos, Moca, San Francisco de Macorís and La Otra Banda.

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That means, Eduardo, so that those listening and watching can understand, there will be no traffic lights for leaving Santo Domingo toward the north.