Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal, accompanied by local, state, and federal officials, kicked off the preliminary construction works of the Ie-Tram routes, a part of the Va y Ven system.
The Ie-Tram, 100 percent electric, is unique in Latin America and will offer Yucatecans an efficient, modern, and safe mobility option that will connect with more than 100 traditional public transportation routes and more than 137 neighborhoods in the metropolitan area, in three municipalities: Mérida, Kanasín and Umán.
The start of preliminary work began with the removal of the rails near the Mayapán subdivision, where Vila Dosal supervised the start of construction work on the corridors of what will be the new Ie-Tram public transportation system.
The Governor recalled that the Ie-Tram is the result of coordinated work between the three levels of government and private initiative, with a total investment of two thousand 820 million pesos, where the State Government will provide 61 percent of the resources; the Federal Government 23 percent, and private initiative 16 percent, for the installation of this type of environmentally friendly vehicle that has all the advantages of a streetcar, but the flexibility of a bus, in the first completely electric route in the Southeast of the country.
“This is a project that I presented to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and that will be linking more than 137 neighborhoods in Mérida, Kanasín and Umán, with more than 100 bus routes, and there are more than 200 thousand people who are going to be benefited; besides the fact that its routes will also converge in the Gran Parque de La Plancha that is already being built by the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena), with an investment of 1,300 million pesos,” he explained.
He assured that all this year work will be carried out at full speed and asked for the support of the citizens who feel affected, since there is a commitment to finish this work by next December.
In the presence of the representative of the Secretary of the Interior in Yucatan, Andres Peralta Rivera, and accompanied by the head of the Ministry of Public Works (SOP), Aref Miguel Karam Espósitos, and the general director of the Institute of Urban Territorial Development Mobility (Imdut), Rafael Hernández Kotasek, Vila Dosal also recalled that Va y Ven is the new Public Transportation System that is being created in the city of Mérida, with its Periférico, Airport and Night routes, and now, the Ie-Tram will be added.
The Governor emphasized that this year 350 new buses will be received, of which the first 34 are already being tested and by the beginning of February they could be incorporated to continue improving public transportation services as part of the 10 concrete actions to reduce waiting times and provide a quality service that Yucatecans deserve.
The explanation of the work was given by the general director of the Highway Infrastructure Institute of Yucatan, Sergio Augusto Chan Lugo, who said that this process is beginning in this stretch of five kilometers that will be the most complex due to the removal of the rails and in which work will be done for 120 days, where there will be a confined lane -exclusive for the Ie-Tram- that goes from La Plancha to the Periferico, all of 39th Street, and after removing the rails, all the necessary infrastructure for the exclusive roads for the electric buses will be built.
“The investment in this first section is more than 244 million pesos taking into account the strategic to link the Tren Maya terminal with La Plancha and in June we will be finishing the Teya-Kanasín section to La Plancha. We are on time with the works and in this first stretch, there will be five simultaneous work fronts to deliver in due time and form the works for the benefit of one million 141,652 inhabitants,” said Chan Lugo.
The preliminary works consist of the construction of hydraulic concrete pavements, curbs, sidewalks and separators, asphalt concrete bicycle lanes and horizontal and vertical signage. Also, the rehabilitation of public lighting and channeling for traffic lights at intersections; in addition, 46 free transfer stations and 21 bus stops will be installed. In the case of the stations, the transfer is free and in the case of the stops, when the user comes from another route, he/she will pay only 50 percent.
It should be remembered that the Ie-Tram, in addition to linking Merida, Kanasin, Uman and 137 neighborhoods, will also be a complementary transportation system to the Tren Maya stations and will be a reality through a total investment of two thousand 820 million pesos, of which the State Government will contribute 60 percent, the Federal Government 23 percent and private initiative 16 percent, in a budget that includes the units, complementary road and electrical infrastructure, as well as adjustments on the route and in the Historic Center.
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