Mérida, Yucatan — The general director of Fonatur says that Mérida will be the nerve center of the Maya Train and that the Plancha property will be used as the main station for the megaproject.
Rogelio Jiménez Pons of Fonatur explained that the entrance to the city would be through an underground tunnel of almost four kilometers so as not to affect the roads and hinder the city. He acknowledged that this idea has caused much controversy because there, a neighborhood association intends to created a park, “But I think there may be a park and a station. We already have some alternatives,” he noted.
However, during the press conference, Félix Antonio Rubio Villanueva, president of Gran Parque La Plancha AC told Jiménez Pons what neighbors want for that space, explaining that they do not want the train to pass there.
Rubio Villanueva explained that the park is a project that began in 2014, in which several groups were invited and a multidisciplinary forum was attended by 132 professionals among architects, engineers, biologists and anthropologists from which more than 700 proposals came out.
“In those almost 30 hectares, we want to make a large ecological park with a series of services such as libraries, places to walk, to take pets. A place that is well lit where there will be 3,000 fruit and timber trees, 5,000 bushes and a lot of decorative plants,” he detailed.
Jiménez Pons said “I think what we should do is present the proposals,” saying “It is an urban technical problem.” He says he understands the position of the neighbors, “but we can also do a station underground that would not bother anyone. It is federal land that has been there for a long time,” adding that the purpose is to create quality, revive that area, fix the space for the benefit of society.
“It is not a technical discussion that is carried through the media, that takes time, rhythm, process, objective analysis. I think that the first thing that can serve the neighbors is surplus value, economic activity will be fundamental. It has to be seen in the future,” he said.
He also said that the city wins with a traffic-friendly station that gives it value with good architecture like the station was a long time ago, and above all, that serves to revitalize a currently depressed area.”
