Road Closures Put Damper On Panama’s Long Weekend
(costaricapages.com) Because Panama City is situated on the eastern side of the Panama Canal, anyone wanting to leave the city for the interior provinces must use either the Bridge of the Americas or the Centennial Bridge. During any long weekend the traffic is horrendous on the bridges, but for motorists, this long weekend that just ended was much worse than usual.
An estimated 45-thousand vehicles cross either the Bridge of the Americas or the Centennial Bridge during a long weekend. Unfortunately for motorists, access to both bridges was closed during part of the 4 day weekend.
The westbound section of the road to the Centennial Bridge collapsed due to crumbling infrastructure, leaving just two of the 4 lanes open to motorists. Normally that wouldn’t be too much of a headache, except the heavy rains caused landslides on the road leading from the Bridge of the Americas.
The Bridge of the Americas had to be closed to traffic in both directions on Friday afternoon, just when most travelers hit the road for a long weekend. After crews worked for days to repair the damage, the road was finally reopened around 3pm on Monday. Repairs on the Centennial Bridge are expected to take until the end of December.
The recent heavy rains in Panama have killed at least 10 people and left thousands homeless. Though heavy rain is common in November in Panama, the recent mudslides on one of Panama’s busiest stretches of road, should serve as a reminder to all drivers to expect the unexpected.
