Residents living in and around the Chapalita neighborhood in Zapopan – keep your fingers crossed!
Yet another project to improve safety at the colonia’s iconic glorieta has just been launched – but this time with an encouraging bottom-line ticket of 50.3 million pesos ($US 2.6 million),
The comprehensive makeover will include the resurfacing and rearrangemexnt of traffic lanes, widening the sidewalks and installing safe crossing points to the attractive circular park and bandstand located in the middle of the traffic circle.
Other planned improvements include the “reorganization” of businesses in the zone, better illumination, signage, cycle paths and reforestation.
The project also includes the “rehabilitation” of the stretch of Avenida Niños Heroes running from the Glorieta de la Estampida (wild horses monument) to the Hotel Riu and the Chapalita Glorieta and continuing along Avenida Guadalupe and its “restaurant zone” to Niño Obrero.
According to Zapopan Mayor Pablo Lemus (who returned to his post this week after winning reelection on July 1), the aim is to turn Chapalita into an “emblematic” zone of the metropolitan area and “encourage” families to use the glorieta. He explicitly stressed the need to “prioritize the pedestrian” – something many municipal governments promise but rarely fulfill.
Previous attempts to improve pedestrian access to the glorieta, such as installing speed bumps, have failed miserably.
The Chapalita Glorieta hosts an art fair each Sunday, when the Zapopan Municipal Band also performs in the afternoon. Throughout the rest of the week, however, the green space is virtually deserted due to the life-threatening dangers involved in crossing traffic, which usually circulates at a fast lick.
Chapalita Residents Association President Rafael Castillo Aceves is enthusiastic about the project, which he hopes will “restore the quality of life in the neighborhood.”
Work began August 10 and will continue for four months.