The resurfacing of the Chapala-Ajijic Libramiento bypass will continue provoking inconvenience and danger to motorists at least until the end of this month, municipal authorities reported this week.
The project entails laying down a layer of emulsion that bonds fresh asphalt to the existing road surface. Heavy machinery will be used to pack down and clear loose material. It will be finished with end-to-end painted markings and reflectors to mark lane boundaries.
The work is being executed under private contract with the federal Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT), with a budget of 5.9 million pesos. Although terms call for completion within 120 days of the April 4 starting date, the project could be done as soon as the first week of May.
The municipal government’s public works department is taking charge of improving access points all along the road. It is also supervising progress on the work and the logistics to ease traffic headaches.
Office chief Rodrigo Paredes suggests that motorists avoid vehicle backups and the perils of loose gravel by taking alternate routes through Chapala.
He also warns that even in optimum conditions the Libramiento is not designed as a high-speed roadway. Drivers should take the precaution of observing posted speed limits, temporarily set at a maximum of 40 kilometers for the entire stretch. But a number of local residents and weekend visitors have complained about the lack of proper signage to alert drivers to partial closures and roadblocks and guide them elsewhere.
The best news, as announced by Mayor Javier Degollado, is that the surface rehabilitation is only the first phase of a complete Libramiento overhaul approved by the state government for authorization of federal funding. The objective is to eventually widen the bypass to four lanes that will also encompass the addition of paved shoulders, a bicycle path and pedestrian walkway.
The mayor also declared that the state’s Secretaria de Movilidad is in the process of carrying out a complete study of the Ajijic area to work out strategies for tackling the critical mobility issues there.