To have a monorail or not to have a monorail? The recent government decision to build a monorail system in Greater Santo Domingo as part of the process to reduce traffic jams in the city. The proposed mass transit system will join together with the current Metro system and the cable cars that cross the Ozama River, the river that divides the capital city from the densely populated East Santo Domingo municipality.
However, the huge project has met with sharp criticisms from opposition party Fuerza del Pueblo (FP), especially regarding the tender process for the project. Former President Leonel Fernandez is the leader of the FP.
Teodoro Tejada, a former head of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors (Codia) has come out in defense of the government choice, saying that the complaints voiced by the political party are not accurate and do not correspond with the studies regarding the construction and practicality of such a system.
As reported in El Caribe, Tejada, a well-known expert of large construction projects, noted that the tender process has not violated any of the rules established by the law on government purchases and contracts. He added that the whole project would be a part of the Integrated Transportation System of Santo Domingo and provide a connection between the Avenue of the Americas and the Metro.
Tejada also noted that an extension of the Metro system itself in an East – West direction would be wildly expensive given the serious issues of drainage, the need for several tunnels, and the large numbers of property that would need to be expropriated.
The Codia chief also pointed out that monorails are much less costly than, for example the Santo Domingo Metro system which with 14.5 kms in the North-South direction, had little drainage issues, build real tunnels with the boring machine, and what are called “virtual” tunnels which are big ditches that are later covered up, 16 stations and a 2.5 kms elevated portion.
A feasibility study quickly eliminated the possibility of building a Metro line along the route proposed for the monorail.
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El Caribe
13 October 2025