For years pedestrians have been forced to risk their lives crossing the glorieta’s three lanes of traffic, which peak at around 1,800 cars an hour in the rush hour.
Says local resident Silvia Monreal,” “In years past we would often go to the park, especially with our young children. But nowadays, it’s far to dangerous, even for someone who’s very fit.”
A plan to install one-meter-wide, raised speed bumps and provide safe pedestrians crossing points at the traffic circle was scrapped in 2011 after critics said it would provoke major bottlenecks.Recent surveys show that more than 90 percent of residents believe the traffic circle to be “extremely dangerous” and in urgent need of “intervention.”
Only on Sundays, when the park hosts a popular artists’ tianguis, are traffic police dispatched to control traffic flow and ensure safety.
During last Sunday’s market, the non-profit civil group Voces Libres de Zapopan presented a new plan to improve safety that involves widening the glorieta, installing four pedestrian crossing points, bollards, better signals (including some indicating alternative routes), reducing the speed limit to 30 kilometers an hour and a constant traffic police presence.
The group’s spokesperson, Diego Monraz Villaseñor, who served as Jalisco Traffic Department chief in the last state administration, said “at the end of the day the glorieta is a park, it is not a viaduct, tunnel, a place to distribute vehicles, but somewhere for families to enjoy.”
Dozens of local artists sell their creations at the glorieta each Sunday, from 11 a.m. The Zapopan Municipal band plays in the bandstand at 5 p.m. GR staff