Traffic expert Hamlet Hermann says the government has a six-month solution on hand to resolve the north-south traffic problems of Santo Domingo. He proposes that the government extend Ortega y Gasset Avenue until it reaches Villa Mella and then set it for north-south traffic, while converting Maximo Gomez Avenue to exclusively south-north traffic. He says this will considerably reduce traffic jams in the city. “We understand there is no need for pharaonic works that will only indebt the country during the entire 21st century. The city has lots to give before we start inventing,” he told El Caribe newspaper. Hermann, a founder of the Metropolitan Transport Authority, is a fierce critic of the Santo Domingo underground metro promoted by former Public Works Minister Diandino Pena, currently the ‘Metro Minister’ in the Fernandez cabinet. His proposal would require adding one kilometer north of the present avenue so as to link into the Villa Mella thoroughfare and another south from 27 de Febrero to link into George Washington. Hermann says that the cost of this expansion would be just a “tip” compared to the mega cost of building the metro. He said that with half of the cost of the studies of the metro (an estimated RD$755 million), the avenues could be extended. The government would have to expropriate around 10 dwellings or buildings to complete the highway. He said the works could be completed in six months time.
Hermann bases his recommendation on findings of a study carried out during the previous Fernandez administration. Other proposals to make traffic more fluid are to convert the Isabel Aguilar and the Luperon into one-way streets. To extend the Albert Thomas to Santo Domingo Norte to Maria de Toledo, Tiradentes and Dr. Delgado to reach the Malecon. In the case of Dr. Defillo and Privada streets, he proposes that these be made one way. In this case, a tunnel would be built under the Mirador del Sur park, as in the case of the Nunez de Caceres tunnel.
Hermann says that the implementation of one-way streets would enable the city to return to the use of exclusive lanes for buses.
He says he has presented the project to the mayor of Santo Domingo and the public works minister.