Costa Rica will begin demolishing the old toll booths on the General Cañas Highway next Monday, April 27, with overnight closures expected to affect drivers heading from San José toward Alajuela and Juan Santamaría International Airport. The work will run from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. for an estimated five days.
During that window, the San José–Alajuela direction will be fully closed starting at the Cervecería Costa Rica crossing. Drivers will be sent through Río Segundo, using Route 3 until the intersection near the airport. Traffic from Alajuela toward San José will continue as normal.
The removal of the toll booths marks the next visible step in the long-delayed modernization of Route 1, one of Costa Rica’s most heavily used corridors. The structures have been out of service since toll collection was suspended in September 2025, but they remained in place and continued to slow traffic near one of the country’s busiest airport access points.
President Rodrigo Chaves ordered the booths removed during the official signing of the law for the expansion and improvement of the San José–San Ramón highway corridor. He said the structures no longer served a purpose after toll collection stopped and had become an obstacle for drivers.
“I am ordering that the toll booths on the road from San Ramón to San José be removed. We no longer collect tolls there, but they are a hindrance, a hindrance. That’s over,” Chaves said during the event. The overnight work applies to the Río Segundo toll booth area on the General Cañas Highway. Authorities said the demolition of the toll booths in Naranjo, on the Bernardo Soto section, is still being coordinated and will be announced once a schedule is set.
Drivers traveling to the airport at night are being urged to plan ahead, especially tourists, airport workers, hotel shuttles, and residents with late-night or early-morning flights. The closure affects a key route between San José, Alajuela, and the country’s main international airport, meaning detours could add time depending on traffic volume.
The toll booth demolition comes shortly after lawmakers gave final approval to a $770 million loan package for the expansion and improvement of the San José–San Ramón corridor on Route 1. The financing includes $600 million from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and $170 million from the OPEC Fund for International Development.
The project covers roughly 56 kilometers between San José and San Ramón and is considered one of the largest road infrastructure projects in Costa Rica’s recent history. The current highway is known for heavy congestion, long delays, higher transport costs, and frequent frustration among commuters, businesses, and travelers heading to the airport or the western part of the Central Valley.
The planned expansion is expected to reduce travel times, improve road safety, and make the movement of goods and services more efficient. That could have a direct impact on commerce, tourism, manufacturing, and daily commuters who depend on Route 1. For now, the immediate change will be felt at night. Beginning Monday, drivers heading from San José toward Alajuela should avoid the General Cañas toll booth area during the closure hours or allow extra time for the Río Segundo detour.
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