Progreso, Yucatan — The director of the Port Administration is dusting off a 20-year-old plan to build a “second floor” over Calle 82.
The elevated highway would serve trucks, linking the port’s industrial facilities and the Mérida-Progreso highway, said the official, Agustín Arroyo Toledo.
When proposed under former PAN governors Víctor Cervera Pacheco and Patricio Patrón Laviada, the idea was rejected by Calle 82 property owners who refused to sell their properties to the government.
Arroyo Toledo pushed the concept, however, saying it would help relieve traffic congestion on existing roads.
“We are going for a second floor … because it would give fluidity to internal roads and not be so congested,” said Arroyo Toledo.
The state Transportation Ministry’s commercial ports liaison has been handed the proposal, Arroyo Toledo said. Economic feasibility studies will take three to six months before being presented to the Ministry of Finance.
“Port modernization projects are long-term and preliminary studies are necessary,” said Arroyo Toledo.
The Progreso Port Administration has already begun work on modernizing the container terminal and building new natural gas and multi-service public terminals. A wider channel to accommodate larger ships is also in the works.
Terminals on the port are private, but the road would be public.
“And he is Progreseño???” was one citizen reaction on Facebook. “Who the [expletive] is he? If you want a bridge, do it on the roof of your house.”
Source: Progreso Hoy
