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Aguirre Urges Highway Department to Complete Job at Pie de la Cuesta

By: David Real | Real Acapulco News - 16 July, 2011

(Acapulco, ElSur 15 July) Of the federal highway department’s commitments in Acapulco, two are causing the greatest public outcries because of the long delays in completion and the disruption and traffic backups caused by the construction. One is on the east side of town, where the road from Puerto Marqués to El Cayaco crosses the Escénica as it becomes the Bulevar de las Naciones. The other one is a segment on the west side of town, where the road up the coast to Pie de la Cuesta has been torn up for years. It is a “widening” project, but instead of adding two lanes to the narrow road, the highway department has for going on two years restricted passage to just one lane, sometimes no lanes.

Yesterday, when Governor Aguirre made a visit to the first hot spot (in the Diamond Zone), together with Benito García Meléndez, the local representative of the Highway Department, he took the time to complain about the situation in the segment from Mozimba to Pie de la Cuesta, saying that it has generated more citizen complaints than any other project. For his part, García Meléndez informed that the cloverleaf at Puerto Marqués is about 74% complete and should be finshed by November 30, almost a year behind schedule and more than double the time originally estimated. And this is contingent on not having interruptions because of the weather or otherwise. In rainy season it is curious to set a date on the premise that it does not rain; however, the official may have been referring to the other stoppages, like those caused by the contractor’s disregard for environmental regulations and the two times workman cut into a major water distribution pipe.

The Highway Department official did not make any such estimates about the long overdue project between Mozimba and Pie de la Cuesta.
In a tour of the Puerto Marqués job site, they observed deep puddles, snarled traffic, and elderly beggars who were filling potholes with dirt in exchange for tips from the frustrated drivers.