View source for National Route 27 (Costa Rica)

{{short description|Road in Costa Rica}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox road
|country=CRI
|type=Primary
|maint=[[Globalvia Infraestructuras]]
|route=27
|alternate_name=Próspero Fernández National Road (segment)<br/>{{lang|es|Carretera Nacional Próspero Fernández}}<br />José María Castro Madriz National Road<br />{{lang|es|Carretera Nacional José María Castro Madriz}}<br>San José-Caldera Highway<br>{{lang|es|Autopista San José-Caldera}}
|map=San Jose Caldera Ruta 27.png
|map_notes=
|photo=San Jose Caldera Ruta 27.JPG
|photo_alt=Toll booth in Route 27
|photo_notes=Toll booth in Route 27
|image=
|length_km=77
|length_ref=
|established=2010
|history=Opened in January 27, 2010
|direction_a=East
|terminus_a={{Jct|country=CRI|RNP|1}}
|junction={{Jct|country=CRI|RNP|39}}<br>{{Jct|country=CRI|RNS|147}}<br>{{Jct|country=CRI|RNS|124}}<br>{{Jct|country=CRI|RNP|22}}<br>El Coyol arterial road<br>Turrúcares arterial road<br>Atenas arterial road<br>Balsa arterial road<br>Escobal<br>Hacienda Vieja<br>{{Jct|country=CRI|RNP|34}}
|direction_b=West
|terminus_b={{Jct|country=CRI|RNP|23}}
|provinces=[[San José Province|San José]], [[Alajuela Province|Alajuela]], [[Puntarenas Province|Puntarenas]]
|previous_type=RNP
|previous_route=23
|next_type=RNP
|next_route=32
}}
'''National Primary Route 27''', or just '''Route 27''' ({{langx|es|Ruta Nacional Primaria 27}}, or {{lang|es|Ruta 27}}) is a [[National Road Network of Costa Rica|National Road Route]] of [[Costa Rica]], is a route which connects the [[Greater Metropolitan Area (Costa Rica)|Greater Metropolitan Area]] to [[Caldera Port]] and the Pacific coast of the country.<ref name='geoportal'>{{cite web |title=GeoPortal |url=https://sig.mopt.go.cr:8084/geo/index.html |publisher=Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transporte de Costa Rica |access-date=28 May 2020}}</ref>
There are two named segments, from San José to Santa Ana the name is {{lang|es|Carretera Nacional Próspero Fernández}}, and from Santa Ana to Caldera the name is {{lang|es|Carretera Nacional José María Castro Madriz}} (José María Castro Madriz National Road),<ref>{{cite news |last1=Madrigal |first1=Rebeca |title=Ruta 27 es llamada por su nombre 13 años después de "bautizarla" |url=https://www.crhoy.com/archivo/ruta-27-es-llamada-por-su-nombre-13-anos-despues-de-bautizarla/ |access-date=23 September 2019 |date=28 July 2014}}</ref> also known as  {{lang|es|Autopista San José-Caldera}} (San José-Caldera Highway),
==Description==
The design of the route dates from 1978, due to financial, political and bad management, it was opened thirty-two years later, in several segments since 2005.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Loaiza N. |first1=Vanessa |title=Avanza negociación para construir la vía a Caldera |url=http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2005/febrero/12/pais5.html |access-date=23 September 2019 |date=12 February 2005}}</ref>
The route begins next to the National Gymnasium in Mata Redonda district of San José canton, and continues west with four lanes, two in each direction, then from the loop road [[National Route 39 (Costa Rica)|Route 39]] to the toll booths in Escazú there are six lanes, three in each direction. Afterward, until Ciudad Colón there are four lanes, two in each direction, then only two lanes, one in each direction until the junction with [[National Route 23 (Costa Rica)|Route 23]] at [[Caldera Port]] in Puntarenas.
In [[San José Province|San José]] province the route covers [[San José (canton)|San José]] canton ([[Hospital District|Hospital]], [[Mata Redonda District|Mata Redonda]] districts), [[Escazú (canton)|Escazú]] canton ([[San Rafael District, Escazú|San Rafael]] district), [[Santa Ana (canton)|Santa Ana]] canton ([[Pozos District, Santa Ana|Pozos]], [[Uruca District, Santa Ana|Uruca]], [[Piedades District|Piedades]], [[Brasil District|Brasil]] districts).
In [[Alajuela Province|Alajuela]] province the route covers [[Alajuela (canton)|Alajuela]] canton ([[San Antonio District, Alajuela|San Antonio]], [[Guácima District|Guácima]], [[San Rafael District, Alajuela|San Rafael]], [[Turrúcares District|Turrúcares]] districts), [[Atenas (canton)|Atenas]] canton ([[Jesús District, Atenas|Jesús]], [[Concepción District, Atenas|Concepción]], [[Escobal District|Escobal]] districts), [[Orotina (canton)|Orotina]] canton ([[Orotina District|Orotina]], [[El Mastate District|El Mastate]], [[Hacienda Vieja District|Hacienda Vieja]], [[Coyolar District|Coyolar]], [[La Ceiba District|La Ceiba]] districts).
In [[Puntarenas Province|Puntarenas]] province the route covers [[Esparza (canton)|Esparza]] canton ([[Caldera District, Esparza|Caldera]] district).
In the holidays, the route becomes mostly a single direction highway eastwards from Caldera to San José in advantage of the returning beach goers coming back to the Greater Metropolitan Area.
===Toll booths===
There are four toll booths at San Rafael de Escazú, San Rafael de Alajuela, Atenas and Orotina.
==History==
In 1973, the [[José Figueres Ferrer]] administration decided to relocate the main Pacific port from [[Puntarenas]] to Caldera bay, making it evident that with a new highway connecting Ciudad Colón with Orotina, the new port would be only 80&nbsp;km from San José, just an hour away.
In the mid-1970s, a preliminary design was drafted along the left (south) margin of the Virilla River (crossing towns such as El Rodeo, Piedras Negras and San Pablo de Turrubares) that seemed the most economical, passing through low-cost uncultivated lands. But over time the elected design was along the right (north) margin of the river (La Guácima, Turrúcares, Concepción), which had more expensive lands for expropriation.
The financial crisis in the early 1980s prevented further progress. However, in 1986 in the first government of [[Óscar Arias]] (1986–1990), US$40 million was obtained from the [[Inter-American Development Bank]] (IDB) to build the new road, although that administration finished without the loan being used. The same happened during the four-year period of [[Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier]] (1990-1994). The country didn't take advantage of the resources that had been made available, and the IDB withdrew the offered money upon expiration of the loan period of use. The country uselessly paid US$3 million in interest during this time.
At the end of the 1990s, without available financing, a private concession was considered, but it was necessary for the government to acquire more than half of the required lands, an opportunity that the owners took to their advantage to inflate the prices. Although they were reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office in 1997, it was considered that such abuse is not criminalized in the Criminal Code. In total, it took about twenty years to acquire the land for this work of public interest. Several major bridges were constructed in 1997 with US$25 million borrowed from Venezuela. They were completed and inaugurated in the administration of [[Miguel Ángel Rodríguez]] (1998–2002), and the road, which did not yet exist, was also inaugurated and named.
The administration of [[Abel Pacheco]] (2002–2006) tendered the project by concession in 2004, and only one bid was received, from the Argentine company José Cartellone, which soon went bankrupt. The company tried to give the contract to [[SNC-Lavalin]] of Canada, but a year later withdrew on the basis that the right of way was not yet available. When the second administration of Óscar Arias (2006–2010) arrived, the concession was negotiated directly with the Spanish company Autopistas del Valle, a winner of the [[National Route 1 (Costa Rica)|San José-San Ramón highway]] since 2005, but it did not obtain immediate financing.
Finally, a sister consortium of Autopistas del Valle, called Autopistas del Sol, was hired to build the Ciudad Colón-Orotina section and also to improve the La Sabana-Ciudad Colón and Orotina-Caldera sections, which were already built. This raised the cost to US$120 million. The company claimed that the road would cost 3 times more (US$370 million) than budgeted. The road infrastructure was mostly completed five years after initially expected, but this delay was not penalized. The road designs that were used were more than 30 years old, and were already obsolete by the time that they were being built, but they were used nonetheless because changing them would have involved a larger budget and more expropriations.
The toll collection charged to the concessionaire began while the route was still unfinished. Users were very critical of the amount to be paid and the location of the collection booths. In addition, the concessionaire managed to get the contract to include a guarantee of a "minimum annual income", so that if the toll collected does not reach the expected amount, the government will have to pay the remainder.
With such controversies and without having been completed in its entirety, the road officially opened on January 27, 2010,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vindas |first1=Leticia |title=Luego de 32 años hoy se inauguró carretera a Caldera |url=http://wvw.elfinancierocr.com/ef_archivo/2010/enero/31/economia2241410.html |access-date=23 September 2019 |date=27 January 2010}}</ref> with an intense and continuous period of construction from January 9, 2008.
Since then, the highway was delivered and managed by Autopistas del Sol with a public works concession contract (Law 7762 of Costa Rica) for its maintenance, for an extended period of 25 years. Together with the Constructora San José-Caldera, the concessionaire worked overtime to finish as soon as possible.
In March 2014 Autopistas del Sol sold most of its shares to the Spanish company [[Globalvia Infraestructuras]], with which the latter assumed control of the concession.
To carry out the work, technologies such as hydro-demolition, rubblizing, the use of carbon fiber and the manufacture and extension of asphalts were implemented. On average, the trip to Caldera can be done in just over an hour, when it would take up to two hours by using Route 1.
===Future widening===
As the 1970s design proved to be obsolete upon opening due to having only one lane in each direction for most of the route, there have been plans to widen the road.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Recio |first1=Patricia |title=Gobierno pediría autorización el próximo año para ampliar ruta 27 |url=https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/infraestructura/gobierno-pediria-autorizacion-para-ampliar-ruta-2/6EZM2D7MJJEABNAS56J6ZZXQII/story/ |access-date=23 September 2019 |date=23 September 2019}}</ref> For example, in 2017 Costa Rica’s National Concessions Council (CNC) noted that the road had reached a saturation point of 70 percent, which qualified for expansion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-25 |title=Costa Rica’s San José-Ciudad Colón Hwy Expansion Planned for 2019 |url=https://news.co.cr/costa-ricas-san-jose-ciudad-colon-hwy-expansion-planned-2019/55580/ |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=Costa Rica Star News |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2020, the Costa Rican government and the current concessionaire [[Globalvia Infraestructuras|Globalvia]] signed a letter of understanding to negotiate a process for conducing studies on the expansion of the road from San Jose to Caldera.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Costa Rica: Closer to Expanding Route 27 - CentralAmericaData :: The Regional Business Portal |url=https://www.centralamericadata.com/en/article/home/Costa_Rica_Closer_to_Expanding_Route_27 |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=www.centralamericadata.com}}</ref> It is estimated that this road expansion work would cost about $600 million. This would likely be paid for by extending the concession contract to [[Globalvia Infraestructuras|Globalvia]] for a further 15 years beyond the expiration of the current concession. The anticipated first phase of widening is set to involve the area between the National Gymnasium and the Siquiares exchange and will include the construction of a new overpass to unload traffic at the highway’s terminus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Times |first=The Tico |date=2020-01-23 |title=10 years after inaugurating Route 27, popular highway needs expansion, Costa Rican gov. admits |url=https://ticotimes.net/2020/01/23/10-years-after-inaugurating-route-27-popular-highway-needs-expansion-costa-rican-gov-admits |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=The Tico Times {{!}} Costa Rica News {{!}} Travel {{!}} Real Estate |language=en-US}}</ref> The Costan Rican National Development and Public Investment Plan 2023-2026 calls for this widening work to be 75% complete by 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-08 |title=Completion of San Ramon extensions and Ruta 27 will be for the next government |url=https://qcostarica.com/completion-of-san-ramon-extensions-and-ruta-27-will-be-for-the-next-government/ |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=Q COSTA RICA |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Road Transport in Costa Rica}}
[[Category:Highways in Costa Rica]]