Transit expert Onéximo González revealed on Wednesday, 24 July 2024 when interviewed for the morning Channel 9 talk show “El Despertador” that the Ministry of Public Works (MOPC) is preparing to build an overpass plus a tunnel road solution that will extend from Jacobo Majluta Avenue to the Botanical Garden. The north-south interconnection is expected to bring relief to those commuting in Greater Santo Domingo.
Oneximo González is the technical director for the Km 9 Duarte Highway road solutions. He also serves as director of the National School Mobility System (TRAE) at the Ministry of Education. During the interview for Channel 9 he shared details of the new road solution.
“When you reach the intersection of Colombia and Jacobo Majluta, there will be an overpass, and a tunnel will be constructed that exits in front of the Botanical Garden,” he told “El Despertador.”
He said the government is in the process of preparing the tender for the north-south Prolongación Jacobo Majluta solution that will connect to the Republica de Colombia Avenue exiting from a tunnel in front of the Botanical Garden. Right now the Av. Republica de Colombia is a major traffic bottleneck with the solution being to build a distributor at that point.
González previewed that this project will be accompanied by other road improvements. He said the José Martín roundabout will also be transformed.
The Rotunda Jose Marti near Intec university will be intervened so people can cross through the low-income area known as Los Praditos. Families will be relocated through the Familia Feliz government program. The Los Praditos land will gain new worth with the new works.
He also spoke of the government intervention in the bottleneck created in front of the Plaza de la Bandera where it connects to the Isabel Aguiar Avenue and the 6 de Noviembre Highway to San Cristobal.
He advanced the Banco de Integración Centroamericano (BCIE) is providing the funding for the studies and design of the roadworks for the marginal roads to connect with the Santo Domingo metro and Km 28 toll booth area. He said the toll road booth will be relocated north to Km. 32.
Gonzalez says that the transportation solutions to Greater Santo Domingo are well-studied. What has been missing, he says has been political will to implement the solutions to give better accessibility.
He also says there needs to be political will to implement the Intrant Law. He mentioned the RD$2 tax allotment on fuel sales, but admitted that the money never went to where it was intended, that was to help remove the so-called “carritos publicos,” the up-to-six passenger taxi cars.
“85% of the congestion in the city is explained by the bad public transport system,” he says.
He says as contemplated, a trust would purchase the old vehicles (carritos publicos) that are used to transport up to six passengers and remove them from service to be replaced with large bus transport service.
He said governments have destined the money to other uses and not what was contemplated in the law.
He said political will is needed to remove around 20,000 carros publics from circulation and replace them with an integrated transport system.
“We are not inventing,” he says. “It is a social, environmental and economic problem that has a solution. With those RD$2 through the trust, the money can be invested in 10-year bonds generating around US$300 million. He said the money would be placed in an escrow to capitalize public transport initiatives including placing thousands of carro publico drivers in retirement.
Carro publicos regularly carry four to five passengers in the back seat and up to two in the front seat with the driver. He said this is a public transport model that only exists here and in one or two other countries around the world and needs to be discarded, but political will is needed.
Gonzalez says that Greater Santo Domingo is exceptionally well-studied. He mentioned the macro simulation of the city has been carried out. The system enables projecting traffic to the next 10 years with the solutions. “There can be solutions in six months, but there needs to be political will and the eliminating of the carro publicos,” he insisted in the interview.
Gonzalez did not mention the motorcyclists that today offer passenger transport service on main venues and are a major threat to safety of commuters.
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Noticias SIN
25 July 2024