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🇪🇨 Ecuador /Energy & Infrastructure

Quito reinstates rush-hour traffic reversal on Simón Bolívar Avenue

From El Comercio · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Quito has reinstated a weekday contraflow on Simón Bolívar Avenue between Ruta Viva and Guápulo, operating from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. toward the north.
  • The Metropolitan Transit Agency says the measure serves about 42,000 vehicles and has cut travel times by 12 minutes during its first days.
  • The operation forms part of a back-to-school traffic plan involving 586 agents, road barriers and additional signage.

Quito has brought back its morning traffic reversal on Simón Bolívar Avenue, directing vehicles along the left lane between Ruta Viva and Guápulo from Monday to Friday.

The contraflow runs from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the south-to-north direction. At the Ruta Viva emergency gate, vehicles are directed into the lane normally used in the opposite direction. They continue to the Guápulo emergency gate, where drivers return to the regular northbound alignment.

The Metropolitan Transit Agency, known as AMT, says the arrangement benefits about 42,000 vehicles, representing more than 100,000 people when an average of two occupants per vehicle is used. Washington Martínez, the agency’s director, said users recorded a 12-minute reduction in travel time during the first days of the operation. “What we want is for people going to work to save time without traffic congestion,” he said.

The measure accompanies Quito’s back-to-school mobility plan. The AMT has deployed 586 traffic agents across the city, including at schools and other educational institutions, supported by signs and Escuela Segura brigades. More than 200 cones and 10 plastic Jersey barriers mark the contraflow section, while road markings were installed with the municipal public mobility and works company.

Agents remain at both the entrance and exit of the reversed-flow section. The Simón Bolívar route is one of five contraflows operating in Quito. The others are on the General Rumiñahui Highway, Velasco Ibarra Avenue, Mariscal Sucre Avenue and the Guayasamín Tunnel. The AMT urged drivers to follow officers’ instructions, drive carefully and plan their journeys.

What we want is for people going to work to save time without traffic congestion.

· Washington MartínezThe AMT director explained the goal of reinstating the morning contraflow.
About this summary

Originally published by El Comercio in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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