Architect Erick Dorrejo writes in El Caribe op-ed newspaper on how Avenida 27 de Febrero has been transformed into merely a way to get between two points. “The slumization that has occurred alongside the overpasses or expressways that were built on the Avenida 27 de Febrero from Leopoldo Navarro to Duarte Bridge, has not been perceived by those that are in charge of bringing our city into modern times,” he writes. “It is not possible that after such a evidence of the effect that the placement of this type of infrastructure has in the city, that they continue to insist on inserting more of these cement elephants in other areas of the capital city,” he cries out. “To give priority to infrastructures that only benefits the automobile leaving the pedestrian amidst a jungle of urban cement will only promote the dispersion of our cities because those spaces will only serve as connecting points, while they stimulate the gradual disappearing of activities, driving away humans, for whom cities should exist in the first place.”
Dorrejo urged that the 27 Febrero Avenue again become a leading commercial and leisure thoroughfare, on grounds that it is the most central and accessible point for all nearby municipalities.
“Cars need to be given a secondary role to pedestrians and public transport. If it can be restored, then the concentration of persons seeking leisure, shopping and public spaces would return with the cohesion that our city needs,” he writes.
The Fernandez administration (1996-2000), under today Metro Minister Diandino Pena turned tree-studded avenues John F. Kennedy and 27 de Febrero into expressways with overpasses and tunnels in order to expedite traffic from west to east.
For the complete opinion piece of Dorrejo, see http://www.elcaribe.com.do/articulo_multimedios.aspx?id=45395…