Would you like to see pedestrian and bicycle friendly improvements for the narrowest stretch of highway running through Ajijic? Would you approve reducing parking spaces to make that possible?
Those are the kind of questions that will be addressed in a public opinion survey to be conducted among village residents in the near future as the Chapala government sets its sights on an overhaul for the nettlesome roadway bottleneck.
Local authorities explain that the project would entail eliminating all vehicle parking on the north side of the highway to extend the existing ciclovia (bike lane) through the center of town, install a full line of sidewalks and add a rainwater channel.
The city has reportedly locked in a budget of four million pesos from the state’s Regional Development Fund (Fondereg) to carry out the project running between the Hospital Ajijic at the corner of Calle Javier Mina and Aquiles Serdán at the west end.
To compensate highway business operators who may balk at losing space for customer parking, the public works office is offering to refurbish their storefronts. The blueprint also involves designating specific points for bus stops and loading zones, as well as stricter controls on roadside vendors occupying highway shoulders.
Dates for holding the opinion poll have not been set, pending completion of graphic renderings of the project design. The survey is to be carried out over a two-week period, with one team of poll takers setting up a visual display and answering questions at the plaza and another dispatched door-to-door to collect questionnaire responses.