The Mayan Train will change its route, in its section 5, it will no longer pass through the urban area of Playa del Carmen nor will it be an elevated work, informed the Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu), Román Meyer Falcón, and the general director of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur), Javier May Rodríguez.
They indicated that the route, which goes from Cancun to Tulum, will now be flush with the earth to ensure that the construction concludes in the scheduled time, in 2023, and that the works that were being carried out in the municipality of Solidaridad will be suspended.
“The Mayan Train is going at ground level, it is not going to rise and the urban area is not going to be used, this decision allows us to say that the work will be completed in time,” said May Rodríguez.
Read: ‘You should not be an engineer to coordinate The Mayan Train’: Adán Augusto defends the new director of Fonatur
He added that in the coming days it will be announced what the route will be, but that the studies will have to be carried out to have the best decision, which does not affect third parties, nor the economic activity of the region and meets the objective of finishing the work.
Meanwhile, Secretary Meyer Falcón clarified that the procedure initiated in the section is not an immediate expropriation, but a legal process for the acquisition of the land in concert with the owners, and that the next few days the topographic surveys are carried out in order not to affect the urbanized areas.
On Monday, in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), the federal government reported the expropriation of 198 private properties for the construction of section 5 of the Mayan Train in Quintana Roo. The land is located in the municipalities of Benito Juárez, Solidaridad and Puerto Morelos.
When asked about the thousands of trees that were thrown in Playa del Carmen to carry out the work, Secretary Meyer Falcón indicated that “it was not in vain” and insisted that with the new line there will no longer be urban affectations and that it will be concluded in the times.
“No, it was not in vain, I would consider that the fact of these technical issues that must indeed be taken into consideration, making an elevated viaduct takes more time, the construction process, the definition of the foundation system, the procedure of sounds of soil mechanics to determine each of these issues, put at risk in a matter of time, that is why in part the decision was made not to affect the inhabitants who use this primary communication route, which is the main communication mechanism and opt for a stroke that does not affect and that reduces the times, “he said at a press conference.
Read: More expensive than expected: Fonatur will ask for 64 thousand million pesos for the Mayan Train in 2022
He pointed out that the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) will be the one that indicates the effects of the work, but that it already has an “inventory of more than 500 million trees planted.”
In a statement, the agency said that the work of the Mayan Train has allowed the rescue and transplantation of about “22,000 trees that were on the camellón of Highway 307, which have been relocated to public spaces, avenues and parks in Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos and Cancun.”
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