Why Costa Rica's road infrastructure is in crisis

Mar 13, 2023

With several projects halted due to corruption cases and a road network that is being used at above capacity, Costa Rica faces serious obstacles, according to the national laboratory for materials and structural models (Lanamme) of the Universidad de Costa Rica.

BNamericas spoke with the general coordinator of the laboratory's transport infrastructure program, Ana Luisa Elizondo Salas, who talked about the deficiencies of the road network and the role that private initiatives can play.

BNamericas: What is the state of road infrastructure in Costa Rica?

Elizondo: In Costa Rica we have a national network of 7,900km and we have a cantonal [local] network of 36,710km, which means that Costa Rica has a road density of 0.87km per km2. It is one of the countries with the highest road density. Now, it also has a low capacity because we have an increase in the vehicle fleet that grew by 60% from 2008 to 2018, and we have the same road network as 30 years ago. We haven't evolved as the vehicle fleet grows and the cost of this increase represents 3.8% of the country's GDP. This means that with this increase in the vehicle fleet, and maintaining the same network as 30 years ago, we have low operating speeds, which during peak hours are around 40km/h. This affects the country's competitiveness.

We have high congestion in the metropolitan area [of capital San José] and significant environmental pollution in recent years. With this low-capacity network, of course, there are major road collapses that affect access to Juan Santamaría international airport, hospitals, workplaces and study centers, and it means a deterioration in the quality of life and an increase in costs.

BNamericas: What other difficulties does the current state of road infrastructure present?

Elizondo: At the same time, some 500 bridges out of more than 1,600 have been identified that require repairing or replacing.

Additionally, there is an infrastructure that does not contemplate mass transit, which does not provide for road safety for all types of users. The network has outdated designs, with an estimated growth projection that is far from what we have today, and that means that our network has a low level of service and a structured capacity that is not responding to the number of heavy vehicles that we have today.

On the other hand, unfortunately in Costa Rica there is a lack of vehicle weight control. We have about four weighing stations throughout the country, but unlike in other countries we don't have mobile scales that allow us to weigh these heavy loads.

Finally, there is a collapse of the network due to a lack of maintenance and an adjustment to the country's drainage structures. They’re not there to support the climate change that we’re experiencing in recent years. Given all this, we have critical conditions on the roads.

BNamericas: Has the planning by the entities that build the highways been taken into account?

Elizondo: We in the laboratory have been talking for many years about the need for a road management or administration system. For example, in our country the body responsible for the national road network is the national highway council [Conavi] and it was created in 1998. At that time it was said that Conavi should work with a road administration management system, and it still doesn't have it today. Conavi has made attempts to hire and establish this service but it has not been able to achieve this highway management system.

BNamericas: What would it mean to have a highway management system?

Elizondo: It allows planning to be established at a strategic, long-term level, at a tactical level with five-year plans, and at an operational level, which are the plans to establish the works and interventions that you are going to carry out. So the highway management system allows you to work within that lifecycle, it allows you to have a very clear vision at the pre-investment level.

It means having macro indicators and an incorporation of policies that allow us to know the needs of the country, so that at a five-year level you begin to establish your interconnection routes, and work begins on those routes that are going to be interconnected and united in a strategic plan with all the other secondary routes that are going to be connected in such a way that they become efficient. If you don't have a road administration system, it will be difficult to be clear about what is required in the short, medium, and long term, and there must also be clarity about each lifecycle of the routes, whether they are strategic or not.

The management system allows transparency and accountability, contributes to a good level of service, strengthens growth plans, and maximizes existing infrastructure services. It also increases the chances of being able to justify more financing with international banks such as the Inter-American Development Bank [IDB], from whom it's easier to get a loan approved because the country can show that it has a great deal of knowledge of its network and above all the real needs of the country from the point of view of road infrastructure, but also the needs of each type of road user.

BNamericas: Why do you think they don't have this road management system yet?

Elizondo: Public institutions have something called institutional willingness. Although there have been attempts, I believe that when there is a true institutional willingness and when senior leaders fully understand the benefit that this means, they can embrace that work philosophy and make it real.

It's necessary to have a good inventory that gathers geotechnical and hydraulic elements of each sign that has been put up. The system must be fed every year with this information. After that, maintenance has to be prioritized, but when I detect that I have routes that require repairs and construction, there must be another group that is in charge of seeing when I do it, where I request financing, how I request it, what studies I have to carry it out, that are complete, sufficient and relevant. For example, I can't have only a hydraulic study of the roads without counting on the hydrological study, without considering what is happening with climate change, that information is necessary.

BNamericas: How would you see the role of private initiatives in this scenario?

Elizondo: We’ve had experiences with a concessionaire where we’ve learned lessons, but we do believe that public-private participation is a good option – as long as it's presented adequately, because we feel that there were some weaknesses in that regard when it came to implement the model.

BNamericas: In what areas are the opportunities for this private initiative?

Elizondo: The last evaluation that Lanamme made of the road network was published in 2021, and it turned out that 63% of the projects could be classified as preservation, and 4.22% as reconstruction. Within that there is an additional 7% of minor and major repairs, so I’m talking about there being 4.22% of the network that, by requiring reconstruction, can allow modalities that contemplate the participation of private initiatives. I think there are opportunities there. There are routes, such as San José-Cartago, which is a route that can allow this modality. There are routes to the north like the one that goes to San Carlos that has not been completed for many years and has a history of abandonment. There is the beltway, which is another option, electric train projects, among others. I do see that public-private participation is an option in the face of a need or economic crisis that is being experienced. I see it as perfectly feasible.

BNamericas: Why do you think there are so many projects on hold?

Elizondo: The country has been stagnant due to corruption, in which we have spent more or less two years without execution and maintenance projects. The Cochinilla corruption cases greatly affected Conavi, which paralyzed many projects and has been a blow to the road network. More than two years without servicing a road network in a country where it rains like in Costa Rica has a huge impact. It's a major blow to the infrastructure of our country. Recovering will not be so easy.

We will publish the new Lanamme report in October or November, and the results obtained will be the product of this institutional crisis that Conavi experienced, where everything was paralyzed and no more companies can be incorporated because there is a legal issue involved that is not resolved. The administration has made many efforts to deal with the situation. There are new projects that were affected, such as the northern beltway, which links different communities so that people don't enter the metropolitan area, so we have strategic projects that are stalled.

BNamericas: What part of the process stalled?

Elizondo: There are investigations involved and the process has not started as such. They are still in the investigation and evidence analysis part. I understand that the government is making great efforts as others have tried, but what any citizen hopes is that it be resolved. It cannot be that for each project that there is a problem it takes 25 years to solve.

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