4t insist on a tunnel for Tren Maya… in the center of Merida

MEXICO CITY (Grupo Reforma) – The Tren Maya requires a tunnel that will run through the center of Merida, confirmed the National Fund for Tourism Development (Fonatur), in charge of the work, in the tender documents for the third stretch of the project, convened last February 21st.

“The section that is the object of this contract includes the construction of a tunnel located in the center of Merida, which is divided into three sections: i) a ramp, ii) an open trench, and iii) a closed trench”, explain the terms of reference of the tender for the 157-km Calkiní-Izamal section.

The basic engineering of the project, meanwhile, mentions a “false tunnel”, that is, a tunnel that is built in the open, not underground.

In addition to its 157-kilometer route, section three requires a 15-kilometer branch line to connect with the station in Mérida, which will be located in the 17.8-hectare site called “La Plancha”, in the heart of the city.

“La Plancha” is the old train station in Merida, a few blocks from the extension of Paseo Montejo. Last November, the firm Enrique Norten Arquitectos won a contract for $2.9 million pesos from Fonatur for the “preliminary architectural studies” of the new station.

The construction of the tunnel has caused concern in the Yucatan, where civil organizations are seeking to have La Plancha used as a park, but also, among civil society and various organizations because of the type of soil in the Yucatan, and particularly in the city of Merida due to multiple Mayan vestiges and the city’s water table. 

The bidding documents do not detail the extension of the tunnel, but Fonatur director Rogelio Jimenez Pons said in January that it will be four kilometers long.

The company that wins the contract has to make the executive project and final plans, both of the tunnel and the rest of the works of the section, such as electrical installation, lighting, emergency signaling, water network, drainage pumping, ventilation, among others, for which it has a budget of $3,623 billion pesos in 2020.

The Yucatan Times
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