Debate on new road in Punta Ballena

The Unión Vecinal de Punta Ballena y Lagunas del Sauce y del Diario is hosting a presentation and debate on the new road going by the Lussich Arboretum towards Maldonado. The issue is whether the Arboretum and the lakes region are endangered by this new road.

Frankly, I have yet to read a factual, analytical statement of the specific damage caused by the new road (all the opposition campaigning seems to be of the emotional, subjective kind, which doesn´t help), and a non-partisan pros and cons assessment. The government is not saying much publicly either. It just went ahead and built the road, which was in the planning stages for years and years and is now a tangible fact.

As I said in a previous posting, the UVPB is decrying this road, which will no doubt prevent many a traffic accident on an extremely busy road preferred by truck traffic going into Maldonado, as nuclear holocaust on the arboretum. But unless I am missing something, when I rode by looking at the new road and its potential damage, the Arboretum did not seem the least bit touched by it.

Frankly, the traffic has to go somewhere. Thinking of potential alternatives, re-routing everyone through Ruta 12 would require an expansion of Ruta 12, which the very vocal and wealthy Ruta 12 UVPB members would no doubt oppose feverishly. So what then, going back to Pan de Azucar, 30 kms, and then going on Ruta 9 and then going down to Maldonado? Is that the proposed alternative? Don´t see how that could fly... Or go further into Punta del Este and just cut across somebody else´s cute, quaint, peaceful, fantastic quality of life neighborhood?

It would be great if both sides could provide quantitative, objective assessments of all alternatives, but I guess that´s not about to happen now... Plus, the road is already there.

In any case, UVPB is calling on all authorities and interested parties to come debate the issue, on September 25, following a 45 minute presentation by the UVPB, at the Club del Lago Hotel, starting at 6 pm.