Mexico City prioritizes mobility projects for 2020

Mexico City will prioritize construction of mobility projects this year to boost economic development and improve the metropolis’ transportation systems. 

During a presentation of the city’s economic recovery plan to face the COVID-19 crisis, mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said her government would reduce procurement expenditure by half, but she reassured that the measure would not affect investment in public services.

Sheinbaum listed 36 priority projects and programs. BNamericas takes a look at the most important ones.

CANAL NACIONAL VIADUCT 

A federal judge rejected a definitive suspension request that neighbors in the Xochimilco district had filed last month regarding the 680mn-peso (US$31mn) Canal Nacional and Periférico viaduct, daily Milenio reported on Tuesday. 

However, the Sheinbaum administration has five days to prove the 1,745m-long overpass will not have a negative environmental impact on the district. The judge also ordered a plan from the city government to reforest the site. 

The project was temporarily suspended due to the neighbors' opposition, but the city government said it would prepare a legal strategy to defend the project.

According to the city’s public works and services ministry (Sobse), the viaduct will provide five access points to the Anillo Periférico beltway from the Canal Nacional boulevard and involves three lanes in each direction.

The road bridge is one of three that Sheinbaum said her government would build with an estimated investment of 880mn pesos.

The other two are the 50mn-peso Emiliano Zapata bridge over the Mexico-Puebla highway and the 150mn-peso Circuito Interior and Eje 6 Sur bridge in the Iztapalapa district.

METROBÚS

Mobility ministry Semovi approved on May 31 a proposal to expand line No. 4 of the city’s Metrobús BRT system.

The ministry said the expansion would connect San Lázaro station, near the Benito Juárez international airport (AICM), with the eastern side of the Anillo Periférico beltway, but estimated investment was not disclosed. 

Meanwhile, Sobse has not confirmed whether it has concluded the extension of line No. 5 of the BRT system.

The project started in 2017 and involves adding 18.5km from San Lázaro station to the Preparatoria 1 high school. 

Estimated investment was US$115mn, according to the BNamericas Project Database, and authorities said the extension would be concluded in April. 

Sheinbaum also included the construction of the 4bn-peso elevated trolleybus line in Iztapalapa in the list of priorities. 

Work on the first stage of the project, also considered a BRT system, began on May 15. 

CABLEBÚS

Another of the city’s priorities is to speed up construction of the four lines that will make up the city’s first cable car system. 

Sobse reported on May 27 that construction of line No. 1 was 70% complete, while line No. 2 was at 50%. 

The US$153mn, six station line No. 1 will run 9km from Cuautepec to Indios Verdes, while the US$208mn line No. 2 will run 11km from Constitución de 1917 to Santa Marta, in the Iztapalapa borough. 

Sheinbaum said both lines will be opened by 2021. 

Overall, the four-line system will extend 34km in the districts of Gustavo A. Madero, Tlalpan, Álvaro Obregón and Iztapalapa. 

While the government has not launched a tender for lines No. 3 and 4 yet, the original plan was to have all four lines operating by 2022. 

Line No. 3 will go from Ajusco to Universidad, linking the southern districts of Tlalpan and Coyoacán, and line No. 4 will run along Tamaulipas avenue, linking the districts of Álvaro Obregón, Magdalena Contreras and Benito Juárez. 

OTHER PROJECTS

Sheinbaum also said the city would prioritize the modernization of the metro system, including lines No. 1, 3 and 12. 

In health infrastructure, she said her government would complete construction of the Topilejo general hospital and the Cuajimalpa hospital. 

Sheinbaum’s administration also pledged to build more bike lanes along Metrobús lines, safe crossings and drainage improvements, among others.

Photo credit: Pexels