Negotiating the traffic in Santo Domingo is becoming a nightmare, worsened because the government department in charge of maintaining traffic lights does not have the funds to keep the systems working. The new director of the General Ground Transport Department (DGTT) Luis Estrella admitted to Diario Libre that 29 traffic lights at key intersections were out of order. He said the government needed to disburse US$1 million to pay arrears with InControl, the company hired to maintain the systems. As reported in Diario Libre, the government signed a three-year contract worth US$4.3 million with the company, but needs to be able to make the advance payment on the contract. Estrella says that thieves have stolen the traffic lights' protective covering for sale to scrap metal companies and this has made the lights more vulnerable to rain damage.
In an editorial, Diario Libre points out the irony of the delays in resolving the traffic light issues by a government so prone to undertake "risky and high-technology works." The editorial points to the very high cost of the traffic delays to Dominican society in time and stress.
Intersections with damaged traffic lights include:
Duarte with Mella, Barahona, Paris, Pedro Livio Cedeno and Anibal Espinosa.
Dr. Defillo with 27 de Febrero.
Gregorio Luperon and Enriquillo.
Winston Churchill with Rafael Augusto Sanchez and Angel Severo Cabral.
Abraham Lincoln and Victor Garrido Puello.
Av. Nicolas de Ovando, Josefa Brea, Duarte, Moca, Federico Velazquez.
Independencia with Heroes de Luperon.
Sarasota with Pedro A Bobea.
Jimenez Moya with Jose Contreras.

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