The controversial left-turn restriction at the intersection of John F. Kennedy Avenue and José Núñez de Cáceres Avenue has been provisionally lifted, as authorities attempt to find a definitive solution to the resulting traffic congestion in the nearby La Yagüita sector. The sudden change has already generated confusion among local drivers, Diario Libre reports.
Diario Libre reports that a source from the National Institute of Transit and Terrestrial Transport (Intrant) confirmed that the measure was rolled back after its implementation 16 days ago. The reason? The opening of the Mercedes Amiama School-Home on Primera Street, which the source said had a “negative impact” on the originally designed traffic flow.
“That school has 700 students, and when parents go to drop off and pick up their children, traffic jams form, but we are looking for a solution,” the Intrant source stated, explaining that the school began operating after the new traffic route had been decided.
On Monday, the cones and signage that had previously banned the left turn were gone, and the traffic light was reverted to its old sequence. The absence of transit agents added to the confusion for motorists navigating the major intersection.
The ban remains in effect for the opposite direction —traffic moving from west to east wishing to turn north onto Núñez— where cones and agents from the General Directorate of Terrestrial Transit and Transport Safety (Digesett) are still present.
The alternate route, now suspended, required drivers traveling east-to-west who wanted to head south on José Núñez de Cáceres to turn onto Primera Street, then left onto Central Street, and finally down Gardenia Street.
A neighbor of the area, Elias Acosta, president of the La Yaguita de los Jardines del Norte neighborhood Association, says that the problems the ban on the left turn tried to correct continue to exist.
He explained the sector’s internal streets have been routinely jammed for a long time because drivers use them as a shortcut to avoid the existing congestion at the Kennedy-Núñez intersection.
“Come at five in the afternoon, when the school is closed, so you can see the traffic jams—it’s not because of the school,” the community leader argued, suggesting that if the authorities’ claim were true, the congestion would disappear after school hours.
Acosta accused authorities of improvising and failing to consult with the neighborhood association before implementing the measure. He proposed an alternative fix: making Primera Street one-way (south-to-north), Central Street two-way up to Primera, and Espíritu Santo Street one-way from Kennedy to Central.
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Diario Libre
30 September 2025