Good news at last for local motorists.
The state government has initiated rehabilitation of the highway linking Chapala to the Santa Rosa junction, starting with the total reconstruction of a treacherous curve in the roadway located about half way between Chapala Haciendas and Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos. A bumpy defect at that point has been cited as the cause of numerous roll-over accidents and near misses.
Last August, the Jalisco Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works (SIOP) announced plans to invest 12 million pesos to repair two badly damaged segments of the Guadalajara-Chapala highway. Work on southbound lanes near the Tapatio Hotel on the city’s outskirts was carried out in early September. Continuation of the project on the Chapala-Santa Rosa stretch was apparently deferred until the end of the rainy season.
On October 15, a car crashed into a tree in the median strip in the vicinity of Chapala Haciendas. The driver attributed the accident to losing control of the wheel as he attempted to dodge a pothole.
In a session the following day, city councilman Juan Carlos Pelayo addressed the issue, imploring Chapala Mayor Javier Degollado to issue an urgent and “energetic” appeal to the state governor. Lamenting the deplorable conditions of the road, he stated, “I can’t believe the state doesn’t have resources to fix such an important highway.”
Degollado assured Pelayo and fellow councilors that work would get underway before the end of the week. He indicated that the project would involve patching minor potholes and resurfacing larger sections of damaged asphalt.
It is not clear whether the assigned funding will be sufficient to fully recondition the roadway that endangers hundreds of travelers every day.