Creek overflow affects traffic on Don Pedro bridge, Santiago

Santiago.- The overflow of the Pontezuela ravine keeps the residents of the Don Pedro sector of Santiago in constant risk and incommunication, due to the impossibility of crossing the bridge every time it rains. According to community members, the rising water level, combined with the accumulation of garbage in the riverbed, causes the stream to overflow its banks and completely cover the passage, preventing both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Manolo Batista, a resident of the area, explained that under those conditions, the inhabitants are forced to take alternative routes, traveling long distances to the Duarte-Licey highway in order to get around. "When it rains hard, you can't cross; the community is cut off," he said. He also indicated that, although the mayor's office sometimes carries out cleaning operations, these do not definitively solve the problem, as the waste quickly accumulates again.

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Residents demand the construction of a higher bridge and a permanent program for the sanitation of the ravine, in order to prevent the situation from continuing to repeat itself. They warned that the problem has persisted for some time and worsens each time heavy rains occur in the area.