Here are a couple of photos of what is going on in Rio's great transformation and why the center of the city is such a mess transit-wise. Incredibly traffic isn't any worse than I expected, but that isn't saying much. Taxis are only allowed to pick up fares at designated stops, one-way streets have been changed to run the other way, one-way Avenida Rio Branco is now a two-road with a central lane going in only one direction for taxis and vans only, one thousand parking spaces were obliterated to force commuters out of their cars and every bus line transiting downtown has been altered, switched, canceled. And to top it all off, as you can see from these photos, the Perimetral elevated highway stretching from Airport Santos-Dumont all the way to the bus station and the beginning of Avenida Brasil is almost a distant memory. The white aluminum wall is the closing of the Mergulhao (The Big Dive) underpass of Praca XV where tons of bus lines transited the central district.

In another thread there were a couple of comments concerning the lack of patience for our Mayor Paes. Well, it is one enormous headache when the major artery in the city is closed and 8-12 lanes of traffic availability disappear.

http://www.cidadeolimpica.com.br/galeria/perimetral-a-caminho-do-fim/

Link to much better photos than mine showing the dismantling of the Periemtral. Couple of shots just eat of Meio Mundo with the entrance to the naval base.

Here are a couple of photos of what is going on in Rio's great transformation and why the center of the city is such a mess transit-wise. Incredibly traffic isn't any worse than I expected, but that isn't saying much. Taxis are only allowed to pick up fares at designated stops, one-way streets have been changed to run the other way, one-way Avenida Rio Branco is now a two-road with a central lane going in only one direction for taxis and vans only, one thousand parking spaces were obliterated to force commuters out of their cars and every bus line transiting downtown has been altered, switched, canceled. And to top it all off, as you can see from these photos, the Perimetral elevated highway stretching from Airport Santos-Dumont all the way to the bus station and the beginning of Avenida Brasil is almost a distant memory. The white aluminum wall is the closing of the Mergulhao (The Big Dive) underpass of Praca XV where tons of bus lines transited the central district.

In another thread there were a couple of comments concerning the lack of patience for our Mayor Paes. Well, it is one enormous headache when the major artery in the city is closed and 8-12 lanes of traffic availability disappear.

I just read today [3.31.14] in last month's CONDE NAST Travel Magazine about this bridge coming down along with other structures through this extensive rebuilding for the WC and for the Olympics in 2016.