Law 561, published in Official Gazette No. 30641 on October 23, 2026, sets road-signage measures for public works and takes effect the day after its promulgation, under its article 9. It stems from Bill 234 of 2025, filed by deputies Jorge Alberto González López, Roberto José Federico Zúñiga Alvarado and Jhonathan Edir Vega together with 16 other signatories; it was approved in third reading on August 19, 2026 and signed into law on October 22 by President José Raúl Mulino Quintero.

Its article 1 states the purpose of regulating the placement of traffic signs at public works, ensuring their planning and mitigating congestion while the works are under way. Article 2 defines a public work as any construction, maintenance, rehabilitation or upgrade of infrastructure carried out by the State or its entities, with public funds or under concession. Article 4, which frames the National Road Signage Program for Public Works, assigns the State the duty to install and supervise signage during the works and to place the permanent signage within one month after the inauguration.

The most direct change falls on contractors. Article 7 requires the company in charge of the work to provide traffic controllers (traffic officers, staff trained by the Land Transit and Transportation Authority (ATTT) or electronic devices) in areas where the works cause congestion. Article 8 assigns supervision to the ATTT and provides for fines for companies that fail to comply. For builders and concessionaires, the obligation could translate into additional staffing or equipment costs to be built into bids and schedules.

Municipalities also take on obligations. Article 5 requires any local government planning a work that affects traffic to notify the ATTT fifteen days in advance and submit a mitigation plan with alternative routes and work hours. The ATTT and the local community board must publicize that plan; emergency works are exempt. Under article 6, for municipal works the traffic controllers are provided by the ATTT.

The law is already in force, but its enforcement component depends on a pending step: article 8 leaves the amount of the fines to the corresponding regulation, and the law sets no deadline to issue it. Until it exists, the ATTT's ability to sanction companies remains limited. Nexo Capital will follow the regulation of Law 561.

Research assisted by Sentinel, with editorial verification of official sources. Discover Legislat.ai