Bad Traffic Delays near Magdalena River Bridge at La Dorada (Caldas)

ixent says on Jul 14, 2008, 13:53:

I travelled along there a couple of a weeks ago. I was in a taxi inter-municipal from Puerto Boyaca to La Dorada, and the queue I was told was 8km. They are repairing one lane of the bridge, meaning that they allow traffic to flow along each direction for 15 minutes at a time on the other lane. A whole set of negocios have emergered ranging from tinto and cigarettes to motorbikes who are willing to taking you to the end of the trancon. All I can say is I'm glad that, in the end, I ended going on one of the motobikes, who charged me 3000 pesos, and then all I had to do was walk across the bridge from Puerto Salgar and find a taxi on the other side. I'm glad, I say, because a massive lorry with a load which was too wide had got stuck on along the only operational lane of the bridge, and it was going to take a very very long time to get it "unstuck". My advice is to avoid that route for the time being if possible, or use a motorbike.

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getting better says on Jul 14, 2008, 15:13:

Ok thanks that's useful. I'm not too keen on the idea of our tourists walking across the bridge, but on the other hand it is pretty easy to arrange transport from either side. How safe is it for N. American tourists to walk across the bridge.?

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ixent says on Jul 15, 2008, 06:25:

I would say it's pretty safe -- ethnically I could be North American and I certainly didn't feel unsafe at any time. It was 1am when I finally reached the bridge, and there were plenty of police and army around helping with directing the traffic. I guess the slightly risky bit is getting onto a motorbike with a complete stranger.

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getting better says on Jul 15, 2008, 17:44:

Thanks
This situation is pretty serious in my opinion and the Colombian government would be better to spend its money on improving the infrastructure of the country like this bridge for the benefit of all (i.e. nationals and tourists) than on trying to attract foreign tourists by paying people who know very little to advise them..
Who is going to come to Colombia with this sort of shambles going on?

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getting better says on Jul 16, 2008, 13:06:

Amazing news, I take back any criticism of the Colombian authorities, they are incredibly responsive to suggestions. We have persuaded them to change the traffic flow system over the next 8 days to include the 20 July holiday. Thank you.

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