The construction of the first section of the IE-Tram, a pioneering electric public transportation system in the southeast of the country, is showing 60% progress, so it is estimated to be completed in a month and a half to begin testing.
The Secretary of Public Works, Aref Karam Expósitos, explained that the section from Parque de La Plancha to the eastern peripheral, at the height of the Los Héroes residential area, already has most of the exclusive lanes where the modern and ecological Irizar brand units will transit.
He mentioned that the hydraulic concrete plates that run along 5.3 kilometers on the median strip that the old rails of the Mérida-Tixkokob route used to occupy will be completed in the next two weeks to begin intervening in the most complicated intersections, located at the height of the Brisas and Máximo Ancona neighborhoods.
The official added that in the sections where the pavement has already been completed, urban equipment adjustments are currently being made, such as the construction of drainage wells and the installation of public lighting poles.
In that sense, he explained that the excavated trenches at the height of the Emiliano Zapata Oriente, Melchor Ocampo and Los Reyes neighborhoods will soon be filled in to stop posing a danger to pedestrians.
Karam Espósitos normalized the risk of the holes and the lack of public lighting in the area, arguing that all infrastructure of this type has “certain effects” on the normal functioning of a road.
“A project of this size, of this importance, certainly has some effects and we are socializing them as we progress, to be able to do it in the most agile way and with less damage to the citizens,” he explained.
The Secretary of Public Works detailed that the eastern route of the city will have two branches from the Mérida peripheral. The first will continue on the train rails towards the Los Héroes residential area, where it will connect with the Tren Maya station in Teya, while the other will use the peripheral side lane, like the Va y Ven, to go towards the center of Kanasín.
Karam Expósitos indicated that according to the information provided by Governor Mauricio Vila, the first Irizar IE-Tram unit should arrive in July, with which they will carry out operational tests before starting to provide the service on the Teya-Kanasín-Mérida route.
Starting from the beginning of the practices, Public Works employees will start the works to build the other two routes that will go from Parque de La Plancha to Umán-Poxilá and the Faculty of Engineering of UADY.
He explained that the work for the other two routes will be carried out simultaneously, since they will not require such a large extension of exclusive lanes as in the case of the eastern part of the city.
Finally, he said that the objective is to have the entire project ready by December 2023, when the first units that will start providing public transportation services on the three routes must already be in Yucatán.
TYT Newsroom