If you're planning on going to the Multiplaza Escazú mall, or passing it on your way to Guachipelín or Santa Ana, prepare for delays.

Construction has begun on the first section of the long and long-awaited Caldera highway, which will provide a much faster route to the Pacific coast than the winding, two-lane highway that crosses the Aguacate pass.

The highway, which will stretch 76.8 kilometers (about 48 miles), has been in the planning for 30 years, and it appears to have finally broken free of the bureaucratic quicksand it was caught in.

The firm behind the project, Autopistas del Sol, began work earlier this month on the Próspero Fernández Highway, which goes from San José to Santa Ana, passing Escazú. It is the beginning of Section 1 of the highway project, which is a 14-kilometer section that will reach Ciudad Colón, west of San José. The firm estimates it will take one year to finish this phase.