Infrastructure is important for tourism and tourism is indeed very important to all of us, which is why we have all been closely following up on the progress of the “Circunvalación de La Romana” bypass… which when completed will reduce travel between Casa de Campo and Santo Domingo to just 1 hour.
With construction projected to end in November of 2013, the “Circunvalación de La Romana” – the bypass around the town of La Romana – promises to boost the development of tourism, trade, and productive sectors of the eastern region of the Dominican Republic.
The new La Romana Bypass will join the El Coral highway between La Romana and Punta Cana directly to the highway to Santo Domingo, with the La Romana junction located literally right outside the main gates of Casa de Campo. And soon after that – when Casa de Campo’s “second main gate” opens – there will be a junction directly off the highway and into Casa de Campo. (Click here to read more about the “second main gate”.)
Since it was inaugurated and opened in August 2012, we have all seen and enjoyed the beautiful “El Coral” Highway, also built by Odebrecht, but what I think what we enjoyed the most was that it reduced travel to Punta Cana from Casa de Campo from a two hour drive to a mere 45 minute drive… And while the opening of the La Romana Bypass won’t have such a dramatic effect, it will save those leaving from Casa de Campo to Santo Domingo approximately 45 minutes! Yes, you read that right, what used to be a drive of about 1 hour and 45 minutes could become just 1 hour, saving us all time and fuel (and the annoying bottlenecks we often find trying to leave La Romana)!
The bypass itself will be 14km long, although the whole project up to the San Pedro Bypass will be 34km long and with more than 1300 workers working 24/7 they are advancing faster than Speedy Gonzalez!
Odebrecht, the builder of the highway, has implemented an innovative system for the placement of the beams of the bridge over the Rio Dulce river in La Romana, which represents the most critical part of the construction of the bridge. This construction is being done with a 400 ton “super crane” which allows the metal parts to be placed precisely into the base made from reinforced concrete.
And… The La Romana Bypass will be a four-lanes and 22 metres wide, so bottlenecks will be minimal and thankfully traffic should flow easily. (No more two hour traffic jams on long weekends – woohoo!)
Benefits of “Circunvalación de La Romana” bypass
• Travellers will no longer have to drive through the center of La Romana, saving time (45 minutes) and fuel.
• It will allow tourists visiting the eastern region of the country – that’s approximately 85.7% of all foreigner visitors – to visit the Zona Colonial, in Santo Domingo in less than 3 hours.
As far as we understand, the new “second main gate” will be located at the junction of the La Romana – Casa de Campo airport on the Autopista de Coral highway and will connect to the resort at the security gate leading up to Altos de Chavón – close to the Barranca Este and Las Cañas neighborhoods.
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