By Patricia Martinez
A citizen encampment has temporarily halted an emblematic public works project of the State of Jalisco in Guadalajara. They are young professionals and common residents who took it upon themselves to oppose the construction of a suspension bridge that would cost an estimated $76 million, which would permit two avenues to cross more quickly.
Ciudad Para Todos (City For All) is the collective that installed the informative encampment the day that work began on the project, as a demonstration of their rejection of a project that promotes a model of an unsustainable city: based on the use of the automobile.
For two weeks the tents have been pitched among felled trees, machinery and the speeding traffic between Lázaro Cárdenas and López Mateos avenues; since then, they have hoped that the authorities would sit down and dialog with them, but their calls have not been returned.
Ciudad Para Todos has been camped among the felled trees for two weeks. (Patricia Karenina photos)
The group is asking for “a bridge of dialog” to negotiate an Integrated Transportation Plan that would establish a baseline for the increase in automobiles, the degradation of public space, environmental deterioration and safety of pedestrians and cyclists, among other matters.
“We are betting on a compact, sustainable city, one that permits anyone to arrive quickly at their destination without risking their life, without contaminating the environment and without damaging the urban fabric,” said Felipe Reyes, a member of the collective who withstood the near-freezing nighttime temperatures of the encampment.
The vehicular bridge will require an investment of a billion pesos, he said, but it will also require seven other consecutive transportation projects to complete their final objective: speeding up vehicular transit. Currently an automobile takes 163 seconds to cross this bridge, at 18 kilometers per hour; with the bridge, it would 42 to 48 kilometers per hour, promises the government.
“We want a city where people can be the priority, and the quality of life will not be sacrificed for the interminable demand on space for private transport,” the collective stated.
Follow the group’s activities at:
pasaloaunmejor.wordpress.com
