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sfmacaws

Dec 22, 2006, 9:15 PM

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How things get done in southern Mexico

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When we left last spring, highway 307 was its usual dangerous self. Divided only for a few miles south of Playa del Carmen and then 2 lanes together with wide shoulders used as additional lanes the rest of the way to Tulum. Sometimes there are 3 cars going in one direction using both lanes and a shoulder, I'm sure there are occasionally 4 cars using the whole road. Speed limits are only observed by a few. They were working on it, building 2 new lanes that will be divided from the other direction. They are still working on it but now there are 3 sets of large topes that weren't here before. Here's how they got built.

The 3 places are in spots that are particularly dangerous for pedestrians as the tourist towns and jobs are on the beach side of the highway and the towns the workers live in are across it. Daily almost everyone crosses from the pueblo to the resorts. One place, Cheymuyil, is a town built by the govt to house workers and they often cross the highway to catch the bus to work. Our town Akumal is another one and Puerto Aventuras is the third.

There have been many, many deaths at these crossings. This summer a girl was killed crossing the highway at Puerto Aventuras. Within hours, her family had started rolling boulders on the highway vowing that she would be the last to die there. They were joined by friends and family and shut the highway down about 5pm on a Friday. This is the only road that runs the length of Quintana Roo's coastline.

Shortly thereafter the presidente of Solidaridad, the municipality centered in Playa del Carmen, had arrived and vowed that topes would be built. The bulldozers arrived and work began. With a new tope built, the road was re-opened around midnight. The presidente went on to build the topes at Akumal and Cheymuyil. Then, the head of the federal highway department said he would sue Solidaridad because they had no right to build a tope on a federal highway. The family of the dead girl responded by promising that if the topes were removed the highway would be shut down. Eventually, the feds gave in and the topes were allowed to remain. They also came in and built 3 new pedestrian overpasses although I don't see them being used much. Still, it is much safer to cross the highway now as the traffic is forced to slow down on either side of the normal crossing spot. I'm very proud of that girl's family and think they have saved many lives.

I don't know if they are Yucatec Maya or not but I doubt it. There are now so many workers here from all over Mexico, mostly southern Mexico, that things are changing and the techniques commonly used in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Tampico are becoming more common here. This is a way to effect change that is common in these other states and wasn't used often here but that may have changed.

They haven't yet painted or marked the topes in Aventuras and tonight driving back from Playa we saw a bus that had clearly bottomed out on it, over on the side with stuff hanging off the bottom. I almost hit that one myself the other day as we aren't used to it and you can't really see it from a distance. Oh well, I notice that everyone is driving slower in the area now and that's going to save even more lives. Topes are not always a bad thing.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Ron Pickering W3FJW

Dec 22, 2006, 11:31 PM

Post #2 of 14 (3891 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] How things get done in southern Mexico

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Too bad lives had to be lost for that to happen. I wish they would use topes NOB also.
Have a Merry Christmas......
Getting older and still not down here.

Jim in Cancun / Moderator

Dec 23, 2006, 4:03 AM

Post #3 of 14 (3883 views)

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Re: [Ron Pickering W3FJW] How things get done in southern Mexico

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I am originally from Ft. Wayne, Indiana, a small town in the midwest and when I was growing up I remember my father saying the same thing about traffic lights. (We didn't have that many when I was a kid.) "Too bad people have to die before they________________(fill in the blank.) I relate many things, events and situations here in Mexico with those same things, events and situations that happened in the States 50 years ago. I guess that's what they mean by a "developing" country. And with minor differences they (we) all develop pretty much the same--just at different times and rythmns.

Bloviator

Dec 23, 2006, 4:18 AM

Post #4 of 14 (3882 views)

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Re: [Jim in Cancun] How things get done in southern Mexico

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My favorite topes are the ones where there is a sign saying Topes 100 meters, then Topes 50 meters, then there is no tope. I think these signs are put up by really poor communities. They are just about as effective as having a real tope except for local drivers who are on to the game.

The one good thing about topes is that they are a great place to pass slow trucks on the Tepic to Maz section of the coast hiway that I'm taking next week. As they inch over the tope, they are dead meat if there is no traffic coming the other way or pedestrians in the area. Of course, Murphy's law usually prevails and there is usually some reason why one cannot pass at such a place.

Rolly

Dec 23, 2006, 5:14 AM

Post #5 of 14 (3878 views)

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Re: [Ron Pickering W3FJW] How things get done in southern Mexico

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Ron, there's a good reason why topas are not common NoB -- firetrucks. Several years ago there was a big commotion in Los Angeles when the city wanted to put in some topas. The fire department objected saying it would slow down their response time too much.

Rolly Pirate

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wendy devlin

Dec 23, 2006, 7:28 AM

Post #6 of 14 (3864 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] How things get done in southern Mexico

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topes...the silent policemen

Bubba

Dec 23, 2006, 8:31 AM

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Re: [sfmacaws] How things get done in southern Mexico

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A good Southern Mexico story on several fronts. The blatant misuse by drivers of a two lane express highway with broad shoulders conforming to current international engineering standards, the disrespect for the indigenous people who are endangered and must take matters into their own hands in what is actually a very dangerous manner, the macho posturing back and forth over who´s in charge here, the constructing of three rarely used pedestrian overcrossings before anyone thinks to get around to painting and marking the illegally built topes, the unintended imposition of residential segregation between the well-to-do who live on the beach and those who serve their communities by an expressway with, initially, no safe means for anyone to cross and on and on.

Mexico is not the only nation to use topes. France, for instance uses them but only in urban zones and then of standard design clearly marked and of minor inconvenience. Mexico´s authorities at all levels would find the French designs adequate to accomplish their goals since most Mexican drivers respect (even overly respect) topes even if they are designed in such a way as to be negotiable without being dangerous and damaging. It´s just that topes in Mexico are not even close to meeting any uniform standard, are often poorly marked or not marked at all and, according to news reports I have read in the past, cause untold billions of pesos in damage to vehicles every year. Well, in a society where anarchy is so close to the surface, one must simply live with the unconventional methods imposed by various jurisdictions to force disrespectful drivers to respect the rights of local pedestrians.

There are at least two towns I know of where topes are not used or rarely used. One is (I believe) Izamal, Yucatan which, in lieu of topes, has put up signs on main thoroughfares saying, "If you don´t want to see topes in this town, slow down". The other is Ajijic, Jalisco which uses a series of traffic lights to regulate traffic through the congested urban zone. and these work quite satisfactorily at least for now.

About three years ago, someone in local authority decided to construct a really dangerous tope on the Ajijic libramiento out in the middle of nowhere. Of course, in typical Mexican fashion, the tope was built with painting and warning to be done later when they could get around to it and I know this because I personally hit it at about 60 kilometers and hour - a memorable experience. Well, about a week later that tope disappeared from the face of the earth. The story, probably apocryphal in nature, is that some wealthy and influential tapatio (Guadalajaran) came shooting down the Ajijic libramiento at breakneck speed in his chauffeur driven $4,000,000 Peso bullet proof Mercedes and hit that tope at about 140 kilometers an hour only to break his axle and head simultaneously. That tope was gone in a New York second and who knows what happened to the genius who authorized it. As I say, the story may simply be an urban legend but that tope was there and is definitely gone and I would love to have witnessed that Mercedes hitting that tope at 140 kilometers an hour if the story is true.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Dec 23, 2006, 8:43 AM)

esperanza

Dec 23, 2006, 8:38 AM

Post #8 of 14 (3847 views)

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Re: [Bubba] How things get done in southern Mexico

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In Reply To

The story, probably apocryphal in nature, is that some wealthy and influential tapatio (Guadalajaran) came shooting down the Ajijic libramiento at breakneck speed in his chaffeur driven $4,000,000 Peso bullet proof Mercedes and hit that tope at about 140 kilometers an hours only to break his axle and head simultaneously. That tope was gone in a New York second and who knows what happened to the genius who authorized it. As I say, the story may simply be an urban legend but that tope was there and is definitely gone and I would love to have witnessed that Mercedes hitting that tope at 140 kilometers an hour if the story is true.

I heard that there was also hot coffee involved in the story.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

sfmacaws

Dec 23, 2006, 8:56 AM

Post #9 of 14 (3845 views)

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Re: [Jim in Cancun] How things get done in southern Mexico

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Jim mentioned traffic lights which would also have been a solution to the problem. Here's an addendum to the story. Last year, the municipality at the request of the Akumal council put up traffic lights at the Akumal turn off. They would also have made it safer for someone to cross the highway and safer to turn into Akumal. People have died doing both of those things here.

They were there for almost a year but never turned on. As it happens, the same federal highway chief said they were illegal as they had not approved them and eventually, sometime last summer, they were removed. They never got turned on and the expense of installing them and removing them had to be considerable. Dontcha love it!

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

Dec 23, 2006, 10:47 AM

Post #10 of 14 (3830 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] How things get done in southern Mexico

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Last year, the municipality at the request of the Akumal council put up traffic lights at the Akumal turn off

As it happens, the same federal highway chief said they were illegal as they had not approved them and eventually, sometime last summer, they were removed

Ah, Jonna, Darlin`:

I do believe the two of us understand this having both come from poor and corrupt parts of the United States. Let me summarize:

Cousin Juan Bob of Akumal has a public works company that both "subcontracted" to install and remove the lights that were never connected and, thereby enriched himself and a dozen other cousins immeasurably and pleased the indigenous community of Solidarity whose ruling council may have also benefited and puffed up their chests as well.

Meanwhile, urchins trying to cross the expressway at great peril to aid their families in survival are not a part of the equation. And if they get run over that´s life. Haul off the remains.

I take liberties with what Randy Newman wrote:

Who built the highway to Baton Rouge,
Who took those Standard Oil men and kicked they ass,
Ain´t no Standard Oil men gone run this state,
Gone be run like little folks like me and you,
Who looked afer shitkickers like you,.
Kingfish do.

And, you know what, Kingfish didn´t give a damn one way or the other.

I breakfasted in fancy cafes in Oaxaca recently frequented by the politically powerful and they reminded me of the U.S. Administration. Rubbing each other affectionately dressed in their designer blue jeans that cost more than the houses their poor constituents live in and I have not felt well since.

Sort of reminded me of the sound and light show at the cathedral in New Orleans after Katrina and the remains of the Ninth Ward today. Welcome to the Third World.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Dec 23, 2006, 12:11 PM)

Ed and Fran

Dec 23, 2006, 6:37 PM

Post #11 of 14 (3791 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] How things get done in southern Mexico

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They also came in and built 3 new pedestrian overpasses although I don't see them being used much.

Doesn't surprise me a bit. Of the countless pedestrian overpasses I've seen down here, almost all get little or no use. The only one that I have seen that is used as it is supposed to be is the one in Tampico, passing across Blvd Adolfo Lopez Mateos from the University. And I reckon that the only reason that one gets a lot of use is that the town built a high fence down the center median for about 200 meters each direction from the overpass. The college kids must figure it's less hassle to use the overpass than to hike 200 meters down and back to race across the boulevard at grade.

Regards

Ed

jacpowell

Dec 23, 2006, 7:40 PM

Post #12 of 14 (3781 views)

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Re: [Ed and Fran] How things get done in southern Mexico

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We used the overpass at Abastos Market in Oaxaca City. Once. After that we dodged the buses and crossed at level. The stairs were very steep. There was trash all over the overpass (why am I not surprised?). We felt like people were staring at the silly gringos (and of course nobody gave a rat's). And the thing was falling apart. There were holes in the concrete, etc., etc. On the road out toward the D.F. cuota, however, it looked like some people used the overpasses fairly consistently.

Bubba

Dec 24, 2006, 6:26 AM

Post #13 of 14 (3754 views)

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Re: [jacpowell] How things get done in southern Mexico

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In Tuxtla Gutierrez at the fancy shopping center anchored by Sears and Liverpool, there is a complicated pedestrian overpass that crosses the extremely busy main thoroughfare there. It is quite attractive as a work of art but, while admittedly, I´ve only been there rarely, I´ve never seen anyone use the thing even during the weeks before Christmas when the stores are jammed.

I think pedestrian overpasses are, like the fabulous sculptures on the malecon in Puerto Vallarta, meant as public art not as public utilities. What properly macho Mexicano is going to cross a dangerous public thoroughfare on a sissified elevated crosswalk when he can impress his girlfriend with his daring by dodging traffic and, if run over, have a fine public shrine dedicated to his memory.

sfmacaws

Dec 24, 2006, 7:29 AM

Post #14 of 14 (3744 views)

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Re: [Bubba] How things get done in southern Mexico

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I wish these new overpasses were public art, they are incredibly ugly. The semiforos would have been a lot better looking.

It's tough in this heat to climb all those stairs in the sun, cross over, and then descend them again vs just jetting across the highway between trucks. Also, the overpass is not at the end or beginning of a road so you have to walk a hundred meters to get to them and then walk back. They will be good places to hang political signs though.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán