BE CAREFUL WITH THE HOLE.......!

Pot Holes in Iquique´s streets: A Fact

by Carlos Tarifeño Rojas

There are many people that think of Iquique as a priviledged city, due to its beaches, beautiful landscapes, and wonderful climate. But there is another side of Iquique that many people don´t feel very proud of: Iquique´s roads.

Iquique, like Valparaiso and Concepción has streets with true deathly traps that can be a problem for months.

Walking or driving on some of these streets is a risk and the authorities haven´t committed to solving the problem.

In Iquique there are more than fifty big holes, of different dimensions and depths, called " the hole route. " It is approximately one and a half kilometres long and is located in the southern sector, on one of the streets where thousands of young people travel every weekend in route to the bohemian sector of the city. There are also other "craters" on almost every single street.

According to the neighbors, along the avenue, fatal traffic accidents occur every month.

The drivers, tired of not receiving solutions from the authority, initiated some protests, but unfortunately did not have any impact on those who should solve these situations.

By the end of 2004, the City Government began a construction project in the heat of a major elections campaign; one that included improvements in the street lights, installation of traffic signs and repairing of the destroyed roads. This plan was never carried out and again, promises were not fulfilled.