[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Mayoralty of Bogotá recently began intensive work to plug some 2,000 potholes across the city in order to improve mobility, reduce accidents and increase speed on some of the main roads.
On Monday, mayor Enrique Penalosa visited one of the most critical parts of the city — Calle 13 between the Carreras 95 and 96 — to observe progress. The work was conducted at night, and in two hours the key road traversing the industrial sector of Fontibón was transformed.
Eight brigades are in charge of road repair works, each composed of seven workers, who have the task of plugging holes in record time in order to meet the goal of rehabilitating Bogotá’s asphalt in 100 days.
As to not to affect the mobility of Bogotanos, the brigades have begun covering potholes after 11 p.m.
Bogota currently has 7,000 holes which urgently need fixing.
During this first phase, the city’s Mobility Secretary also identified seven critical points such as the Autopista Norte, Circunvalar and Calle 116 among others as priorities for repairs.
The Avenida Circunvalar was the target of several protests recently when a motorcyclist lost his life after swerving to miss a giant pothole. The dangerous hole was fixed in three days.
Since then, the brigades have gone on to cap 88 potholes between the Calle 6, in the city’s center, and the Calle 80 in Chicó.
One of the most accident-prone areas of the capital is the Autopista Norte between Calles 242 and 245. After repair work last month, vehicular speed has substantially improved along this north-south corridor.
Other key points for the pothole brigadiers: Calle 19 between Carrera 3 and 30, the Avenida Centenario, Autopista Norte from Calle 182 to the Chia toll booth, Carrera 7 north of 140, Avenida Primero de Mayo and Avenida Boyacá.
Even though the pothole capping will last several months, the city wants to improve the overall mobility of the TransMilenio articulated bus system, and has identified 100 points of structural damage along the routes.
The Mobility Secretary announced it will conduct a study of all main roads intervened to determine how much speed increased compared with the past.
Another step to break the gridlock along the Carrera 11, between Calle 100 and Calle 81 was Peñalosa’s recent decision to revert the Carrera 11 back to its former north to south one-way for all traffic, but has designated one lane for bicycles.
