Abinader forms committee to oversee the Santo Domingo Integrated Plan

[Dolores]

President Luis Abinader has officially established the Integrated Plan of Santo Domingo (PISD) through a recent decree, aiming to coordinate the efforts of all public institutions involved in development projects within the National District. The initiative, unveiled on February 25th alongside Mayor Carolina Mejía, outlines a comprehensive urban master plan for the capital city.

Key components of the PISD include the construction of the Trinitarios bridge, a marina, and a cruise port situated off the coast of the Hotel Jaragua, the Paseo 30 de Mayo, and the Malecón Deportivo. The plan also encompasses interventions in coastal areas, improvements to road connectivity between major highways, the preservation of the historical city center, and the expansion of strategic infrastructure for tourism and the economy.

Decree 142-25, signed on March 20th, designates...

Continue reading...

 

[CristoRey]

If only the could resolve the electricity issues and pump potable water to residents who live there...

 

[PJT]

One of the issues that should be addressed is road SIGNAGE. It is so darn confusing to drive in Santo Domingo with the signage it presents. Especially, av 27 in any direction when one is looking for a particular cross street to turn onto. The disorientation is blindly traveling via the express lanes and tunnels to risk missing a section of frontage road to the desired cross street for lack of clear simple information, i.e., enter here for av xxx. Present signs are vague or nonexistent. The latter a part of a culture on many roads throughout the country. The locals that travel the areas know how to navigate. Yet, government changes to street travel patterns or going to confuse the locals too.

One area that needs plenty of useful signage is the chaos of ramps at or about the intersections of San Vincente de Paul, Expresso Las Americas, and Marginal Las Americas. Proceeding towards Las Americas from San Vincente de Paul... what ramp does one take to get to Las Americas in the direction of the airport? There is nothing there to guide the non-local driver.

Clear signage saves, fuel, and relieves stress.


Time to get down off the soap box.

Regards,

PJT

 

[NanSanPedro]

One of the issues that should be addressed is road SIGNAGE. It is so darn confusing to drive in Santo Domingo with the signage it presents. Especially, av 27 in any direction when one is looking for a particular cross street to turn onto. The disorientation is blindly traveling via the express lanes and tunnels to risk missing a section of frontage road to the desired cross street for lack of clear simple information, i.e., enter here for av xxx. Present signs are vague or nonexistent. The latter a part of a culture on many roads throughout the country. The locals that travel the areas know how to navigate. Yet, government changes to street travel patterns or going to confuse the locals too.

One area that needs plenty of useful signage is the chaos of ramps at or about the intersections of San Vincente de Paul, Expresso Las Americas, and Marginal Las Americas. Proceeding towards Las Americas from San Vincente de Paul... what ramp does one take to get to Las Americas in the direction of the airport? There is nothing there to guide the non-local driver.

Clear signage saves, fuel, and relieves stress.


Time to get down off the soap box.

Regards,

PJT

The first few times I did that I had to have the GPS lady help me. It took about 5 times before I got it mastered. Now, coming from San Isidro back to Boca Chica, it's the least effed up way to go.

 

[CristoRey]

I'm wondering if they will attempt to do here what they have done in places like Mexico City. Cars are only allowed on the roads certain days of the week and from what I've been told, this is determined by the license plate number registered to each vehicle.

 

[NanSanPedro]

I'm wondering if they will attempt to do here what they have done in places like Mexico City. Cars are only allowed on the roads certain days of the week and from what I've been told, this is determined by the license plate number registered to each vehicle.

unenforceable

 

[MariaRubia]

If they do build the cruise port (next to Adrian Tropical) this is going to require a lot of changes to the Malecon. You can't have 5000 tourists getting off a cruise ship and walking into 4 lanes of trucks whizzing by. I could see this would mean the Malecon would have to be pretty much pedestrianised, which has been a long time coming. But where to put all those cars and trucks that use the Malecon, that's a big question.

The Vinici's have been buying a lot of land on the Malecon, they have those new apartments opposite Adrian Tropical and there is a derelict site right next to them which I presume will have something to do with the cruise port.

 

[JD Jones]

unenforceable

They did that for a few years here. Cars with roofs painted yellow or green. Next cars started showing up with Green AND Yellow roofs.

Can't make this stuff up.

 

[aarhus]

If they do build the cruise port (next to Adrian Tropical) this is going to require a lot of changes to the Malecon. You can't have 5000 tourists getting off a cruise ship and walking into 4 lanes of trucks whizzing by. I could see this would mean the Malecon would have to be pretty much pedestrianised, which has been a long time coming. But where to put all those cars and trucks that use the Malecon, that's a big question.

The Vinici's have been buying a lot of land on the Malecon, they have those new apartments opposite Adrian Tropical and there is a derelict site right next to them which I presume will have something to do with the cruise port.

I just can't see Santo Domingo as a cruise ship destination. Not safe enough. Tourists can't walk freely around. That is better in Puerto Plata, Samana and La Romana where they can control it better. Stick to that in my opinion. Why do they have to copy the same all over the country. Like copying Punta Cana and copying CdC in other locations. Is that David Colmados idea ?

 

[keepcoming]

I just can't see Santo Domingo as a cruise ship destination. Not safe enough. Tourists can't walk freely around. That is better in Puerto Plata, Samana and La Romana where they can control it better. Stick to that in my opinion. Why do they have to copy the same all over the country. Like copying Punta Cana and copying CdC in other locations. Is that David Colmados idea ?

You do realize that there are many tourists that walk around Santo Domingo, especially the ZC area. Why is not safe enough? I do not see that. What I do see is that Santo Domingo is not really known for tourism, more business visitors. As far as cruise ships, agree, I do not really see it.

 

[aarhus]

You do realize that there are many tourists that walk around Santo Domingo, especially the ZC area. Why is not safe enough? I do not see that. What I do see is that Santo Domingo is not really known for tourism, more business visitors. As far as cruise ships, agree, I do not really see it.

They can walk in the ZC area or in a mall but I don't think cruise ship tourism is quite the same as the visitors Santo Domingo normally has.

 

[NanSanPedro]

You do realize that there are many tourists that walk around Santo Domingo, especially the ZC area. Why is not safe enough? I do not see that. What I do see is that Santo Domingo is not really known for tourism, more business visitors. As far as cruise ships, agree, I do not really see it.

I was just there yesterday and there were a lot of tourists. Parque Colon and the restaurants around it were packed. I parked at Parque Enriquillo and walked down, but there were spots available.

 

[MariaRubia]

I have been on so many cruises around the Caribbean, probably over 30 now. And so many places you stop are incredibly boring, unless you want to sit on a beach there is nothing to see. Santo Domingo will sit alongside places like Cartagena and San Juan as being a place that the history lovers and the shoppers can be taken care of, somewhere with a true history. It's also very conveniently located - the ships leave Fort Lauderdale, have one night at sea while they zip around Cuba and then would make a stop in Santo Domingo before heading further east to the smaller islands like Barbados, Antigua etc. Cruise companies work incredibly hard to compete and having a new stop on an itinerary, especially an interesting stop, would help them sell cruises.

And to say Santo Domingo is dangerous for tourists is nonsense. I worked with tourists for 15 years, and I can only remember one who got mugged and a couple who got drunk and got their phones stolen. In London by comparison the police are saying that crime levels for tourists are spiralling.

My final point is that for years Collado has had an obsession with fixing up the Malecon. Juan Vicini, often named as one of the most powerful men in DR and like a father to Collado has bought a huge amount of property on the Malecon. Collado is almost certainly going to be president after Abindader. Not hard to join the dots here.

 

[MariaRubia]

They did that for a few years here. Cars with roofs painted yellow or green. Next cars started showing up with Green AND Yellow roofs.

Can't make this stuff up.

They have been doing reasonably well with getting motorbikes riders to wear helmets and have their registration number on the helmet. It's way more enforced in the capital than in other parts of the country for sure.

And they've also had some success in keeping trucks off the Malecon, there is a noticeable reduction in the number recently. Small steps.

 

[Notengo]

If they do build the cruise port (next to Adrian Tropical) this is going to require a lot of changes to the Malecon. You can't have 5000 tourists getting off a cruise ship and walking into 4 lanes of trucks whizzing by. I could see this would mean the Malecon would have to be pretty much pedestrianised, which has been a long time coming. But where to put all those cars and trucks that use the Malecon, that's a big question.

Best would be to under tunnel part of the Malecon route. Since it is the only east-west main road south of the 27 Febrero blocking traffic at the Malecon would cause even bigger traffic problems in the rest of the city. Also the new proposed bridge connection with Ave. Espana over the Ozama could directly feed into the Malecon tunnel.

 

[MariaRubia]

The best idea would be to build a massive bridge from the east side of the bay to join up with Avenida España, which would also act as a breakwater, that way they could then drain part of the bay and create beaches. It would be very expensive to do, but cruise ships are very big business.

 

[aarhus]

I have been on so many cruises around the Caribbean, probably over 30 now. And so many places you stop are incredibly boring, unless you want to sit on a beach there is nothing to see. Santo Domingo will sit alongside places like Cartagena and San Juan as being a place that the history lovers and the shoppers can be taken care of, somewhere with a true history. It's also very conveniently located - the ships leave Fort Lauderdale, have one night at sea while they zip around Cuba and then would make a stop in Santo Domingo before heading further east to the smaller islands like Barbados, Antigua etc. Cruise companies work incredibly hard to compete and having a new stop on an itinerary, especially an interesting stop, would help them sell cruises.

And to say Santo Domingo is dangerous for tourists is nonsense. I worked with tourists for 15 years, and I can only remember one who got mugged and a couple who got drunk and got their phones stolen. In London by comparison the police are saying that crime levels for tourists are spiralling.

My final point is that for years Collado has had an obsession with fixing up the Malecon. Juan Vicini, often named as one of the most powerful men in DR and like a father to Collado has bought a huge amount of property on the Malecon. Collado is almost certainly going to be president after Abindader. Not hard to join the dots here.

Dangerous was maybe exaggerated. Just not very comfortable. You mentioned the traffic yourself crossing the Malecon road. Cruise ship travelers like convenience. I don't think they are looking for too much adventure. I just don't think the conditions are there for it. Works better in La Romana, Puerto Plata and Samana in my opinion.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Dangerous was maybe exaggerated. Just not very comfortable. You mentioned the traffic yourself crossing the Malecon road. Cruise ship travelers like convenience. I don't think they are looking for too much adventure. I just don't think the conditions are there for it. Works better in La Romana, Puerto Plata and Samana in my opinion.

There is a foot bridge there but that means you have to (gasp) climb stairs. I don't see that being too popular.

 

[aarhus]

The best idea would be to build a massive bridge from the east side of the bay to join up with Avenida España, which would also act as a breakwater, that way they could then drain part of the bay and create beaches. It would be very expensive to do, but cruise ships are very big business.

Seems easier to direct the cruise ships to where there are actual natural beautiful beaches. Does anyone remember the artificial island project ? That was funny.

 

[keepcoming]

Dangerous was maybe exaggerated. Just not very comfortable. You mentioned the traffic yourself crossing the Malecon road. Cruise ship travelers like convenience. I don't think they are looking for too much adventure. I just don't think the conditions are there for it. Works better in La Romana, Puerto Plata and Samana in my opinion.

Not very comfortable? Why? Most cruisers want one of two things in port, a beach or excursions to explore what is available. Out of Punta Cana for example there are several tours to Santo Domingo. I do not really see Santo Domingo as a cruise destination but not because it is dangerous or not very comfortable.