Corrientes - Transportation in Northern Argentina

by Lisa Cortes

The Rotarians we are staying with are amazing people and extremely wonderful hosts. They keep us busy leaving no time to get too homesick. The time is flying by. The food is great and I may need to buy a larger pair of pants!

Traffic Observations:


1. Cars and bicycles definitely have the right of way! You better watch out even if you are in a crosswalk. The driver will look right at you and keep going. I have seen a few close calls. It is better in the smaller cities, but Buenos Aires is scary.

2. If a road is striped for 3 lanes that actually means five lanes....maybe even six.

3. People do not wear helmets even though they may get crushed by a bus at any moment. Many times I have seen an entire family of three on a moto or a mom holding a baby. Although, I have noticed it is popular to carry a helmet while driving.

4. Red does not mean stop. It means look quickly to the left and right and put your foot the gas.

5. If the light has turned green for more than a millisecond and you have not started moving get ready for a few honks from the cars behind you.

Although we complain about all of the traffic regulations in the states I have started to appreciate them. The people of Argentina are agressive drivers but off the road they are very courteous and friendly.

First Vocational Exchange:

In Corrientes I met with the Public Works Director and he explained the transportation system for northern Argentina to me. While they do not have the extensive and organized transportation system that the United States has we have much in common. Transportation iImprovement projects are desperately needed. There is need for work on local streets, but he stressed the need for greater connectivity projects. These include a corridor from coast to coast in northern Argentina to Chile.

This project is difficult and expensive considering the need to cross the Andes mountains. The project would benefit many countries in South America and their is ongoing discussion of who will pay for the corridor and the regulations that would be administered. For example, Brazil will benefit and they allow larger trucks than Argentina but they do not want to pay for the additional improvements to the corridor to handle the larger freight. The basic theme is that the countries are poor, but rich in resources. If connectivity is improved they could be rich together.

Another project is to build a second bridge from Corrientes to Resistencia to handle current and future traffic. Both are the hubs of their provinces (the equivalent to counties). Of interest to me is that instead of widening the existing bridge they are going to add a parallel bridge exclusively for freight trucks and transportation carrying dangerous chemicals or explosives. They want to separate the traffic, but it will be more expensive because they will have to acquire more right of way than if they widened the existing bridge. They are designing the bridge for a 50 year life span.

We did experience one downside of the existing bridge. We were waiting for our bus to arrive in Corrientes from Resistencia at 9:30 PM to go to Iguazu Falls when we were told the bus would be late. After further inquiry we learned the police had blocked the bridge in order to protest for a higher salary. Our hosts told us that the bridge was once blocked for 15 days! After hearing that our 5 hour wait was nothing.

The last project includes widening the Parana River from Santa Fe, Argentina to Paraguay. Right now the only port wide enough for large freight ships is in Buenos Aires. Widening the river would allow them to make a shorter trip to the north.