The mayor of Mérida reported that they will begin repaving streets and repairing potholes because, due to the rainy season, they are not noticeable. “They repair 10 or 15 potholes,” she said.
The Mayor of Mérida, Cecilia Patrón Laviada, announced the extraordinary repaving of 300 kilometers of streets during her administration, which will begin next year and will have brigades working 24/7 so that the repairs of potholes are noticeable. Due to heavy rains “they repair 10 or 15 potholes.”
During a Monday press conference, she said that the repaving of the 300 kilometers will be completed at a rate of 100 per year; the projected amount is equivalent to 8 percent of the total number of roads in the city, which is around 4 thousand kilometers.
“We are evaluating a budget and making an extraordinary effort, we want to fill 100 kilometers of potholes per year. We are talking about the fact that there are four thousand square kilometers of streets in Mérida,” explained the mayor of Mérida.
The Mayor of Mérida recognized the urgency of addressing the poor condition of the streets but warned that the city budget is not enough, so hence the importance of coordinated efforts with the State Government. “With the budget we have, we would have to stop doing what is done in all areas and even then it is not enough. We need the support of the Federal Government.” The investment for the street repair works is 52 million pesos.
From September to date, the Mérida City Council has addressed over 35 thousand potholes through the Zero Potholes Operation, an effort that has the collaboration of citizens who help identify and address road problems in a timely manner. Municipal President Cecilia Patrón Laviada mentioned that the number of potholes fixed exceeds by 64 percent those repaired during eight months.
She recalled that the goal of the first 100 days of her municipal administration is to fix 105 thousand square meters of potholes, whereof 60 thousand square meters are in charge of City Council crews and 45 thousand are handled by companies contracted through tenders approved by the council.
The mayor announced that the city council is working on planning the budget for next year mainly focused on addressing street repaving, grates, drainage, and garbage collection actions. She also said work is being done on changing construction regulations to obligate housing developers to deliver quality streets that are more resistant to vehicle traffic.
She added that the problem of streets with potholes is a reality throughout Mexico that should be addressed with coordinated efforts from the three levels of government and announced she will soon seek a dialogue with Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena to find out which streets he will intervene in the Yucatecan capital. “So, we can have better coordination and a better impact for the people of Merida,”
“Currently, we have a backlog and our commitment is to fix the pothole from one day to the next, so we are working on improving the administrative processes to repair roads in 72 hours.” Another strategy they will apply is the construction of slabs on some roads. “We are already doing it where we notice that there is a terrible condition, we make a slab.”
“In addition, we did not contemplate these rains and specialists have told us that precipitations will not only decrease but increase due to climate change. We need to adapt to a new reality with the budget and putting things in order.”
Source: Por Esto
