Construction

Here is an update on the construction in front of our apartment.

Cyclista

We live on a road that is one of the exits of a round-a-bout at a major intersection known as El Ciclista. It is called “The Cyclist” because of it being next to the side of Parque Metropolitano that features a BMX bike park, and because of the unique and unmistakable marionette-like unicyclist statue sitting in middle of the circle. About one month after moving into our apartment, crews began a major construction project that, sadly, saw the cyclist removed and the roads torn up into a tangle of chaos, blasting horns, and traffic cop whistles.

New University

Well, in the last 9 months there’s been quite a lot of progress. A university is being built across the street. It’s going to be a 7-story building that unfortunately, blocks almost our entire view of the Parque Metropolitano. And to ease the already stagnant clog of traffic that is constantly drudging through the Ciclista round-a-bout, a tunnel is being constructed. The tunnel should divert the Cumbaya traffic and take some of the volume away from the round-a-bout. The exit of the tunnel is directly under our bedroom window. And much of this construction has been occurring late and through the nighttime. Let’s just say we’ve had to break into our Nyquil reserves on a few occasions, just to manage a few hours sleep. 

New Tunnel

And though I would have much preferred the view of giant eucalyptus trees of the park rather than a looming university building, I do give the planners credit for laying a beautiful brick sidewalk, grass! (quite a luxury in this city), and even a few sapling trees. And while we literally unable to use our car for a few days, due the garage being inaccessible as the road was torn up, we have been treated to a freshly paved, painted, and now clearly designated two-way street in front of our apartment. You can see a few pictures of the current state of construction as it is now. Our hopes are that the majority of the road construction will be completed by the time we return in late August. Who knows, maybe even our Ciclista statue will be back!