Venturing east recently, we noticed some odd construction: in La Floresta at Ruta 35, what had been traffic lights in the middle of nowhere had become a roundabout. Turns out they’re building a traffic overpass, only the third between Montevideo and Punta Del Este, and replacing one of only four traffic lights between the mandatory toll stops.
Why there? Ruta 35 does not have that much traffic. However, examining the traffic lights (red arrows) from left (Montevideo) to right (Punta del Este):
- Neptunia: nothing but a small residential area on the north side.
- Salinas: the town’s iconic arch wold need to be removed.
- Parque del Plata: nothing but a small residential area on the north side.
In La Floresta, no problems, wide open, through road to Soca and beyond.
So they’re building it there because they can. That’s good news for anybody wanting to hit the road east, because after the Parque del Plata light (new since we moved here) things are pretty wide open. Unfortunately, the space west of Parque del Plata is not wide open, and heavily populated, but the people racing between Montevideo and Punta act as though it’s their god-given right to drive as fast as they can past things like this and this and this.
Punta del Este license plates begin with B. Montevideo license plates begin with S. BS drivers are not the only offenders (BA also comes to mind: Buenos Aires), but it was not a local car in this scene.
One thought on “A new bridge”