A legal injunction granted to communal agrarian groups (ejidos) looks set to delay the start of work on the 110-kilometer macrolibramiento, the ambitious outer city beltway planned to run in a semi-circle to the south of the Guadalajara metropolitan area.
In recent days, several ejidos have won amparos (injunctions) based on environmental concerns that will prohibit construction – at least temporarily – of the ambitious 8.3-billion-peso project.
Lawyers for the ejidos say they expect to file further amparos in the near future.
Part of the problem is that the new highway is set to pass within one kilometer of the Primavera Forest, a federally protected nature reserve referred to as Guadalajara’s “lung.”
Leaders of the Santa Ana Tepatitlan ejido are asking for four requirements to be met before they agree to the project. They want guarantees that bridges or tunnels will be constructed to allow wildlife to pass across the highway, expansion of the conservation zone, official protection given to local archaeological sites and a percentage of the toll fees to help with social development projects in their community.In addition, the San Ana ejitadarios, along with their Santa Cruz del Valle, Zapote, San Jose del Valle and Zapotlanejo counterparts, are angry that they were only offered between eight and 14 pesos a square meter for their land when they say the real commercial value is between 90 and 500 pesos.
In response, Heriberto Gonzalez Rodriguez, director of the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT) in Jalisco, said payments for the land have already been agreed – and made – and dismissed concerns at the possibility environmental damage to the Primavera.
Gonzalez confirmed that the Environment Ministry (Semanart) had signed off on the project. A spokesperson for the agency said they would closely monitor construction to ensure no laws are violated.
The four-lane highway will redirect heavy traffic away from the metropolitan area and periferico (city beltway) and help “detonate” economic development in provincial areas of Jalisco, the state government believes.
The private construction company Ideal – owned by billionaire Carlos Slim – will build the highway and has been granted a 30-year concession to operate the toll-road. Before the injunctions were granted the plan was to start work in March and finish at least half of the highway by the end of the year.
Lorena Limon Gonzalez, president of the Jalisco branch of the National Construction Industry Chamber, called the objections of the agrarian groups “egotistical” and asked them to look at the greater need, especially in the current economic climate when the construction sector urgently requires a boost.