Another friend said,
"I have a few questions regarding the rumor of a new libramiento. The traffic between Xalapa and Coatepec is not as dense as you might believe. Of the times that I have traveled the autopista, there wasn't that much traffic. The only times that I have experienced heavy traffice was a night in Coatepec from the glorieta to the zocalo. Can a light rail actually save money and energy? Where would the terminals for the light rail be located? Certainly not in the center of the towns nor anywhere near to those who wish to travel. In order to get to these terminals, people would have to either take a bus (or two) or a taxi or drive and find a parking place. Perhaps the cities would build parking lots for the travelers. Lastly, traveling 7 or 8 kilometers doesn't need a light rail system."
I responded,
About traffic problem causes in small-street Coatepec: I suspect the following without any real data to back me up,
1. A growing population which includes a significant number of people who are well off and accustomed to driving everywhere.
2. Truck traffic which is currently only permitted during certain hours.
3. Tourist traffic both to and through Coatepec to Xico. The road from Coatepec to Xico on holiday weekends is bumper to bumper.
Possibly some solutions:
1. garages at the perimeters for parking as you suggest.
2. At the moment there are little tourist trolleys. Expand them (and lower the price) so people could park and ride, though it would hardly be necessary for people visiting the El Centro unless you couldn't walk. There are buses to further out areas.
3. Actually, not light rail but some kind of trolley system might be good within Coatepec and even to Xico. There's actually a side road from the top of San Marcos to Xico which I think was originally (and still may be) intended as part of an expansion two four lanes of the Xico-San Marcos Road which could be used, as could the San Marcos bypass. There is land without housing from there pretty much to the outskirts of Coatepec. Anyone my age who lived in NYC knows that trolleys can run right down regular streets, in any event.
4. Some method of developing a bypass route that doesn't go right through the downtown-park area. Perhaps extending the road from Xico along the street at the bottom and then finding some route which might go right over the river and then meetup with the Las Trancas road. This could be for trucks and for through traffic. Though here, too, I am wondering if there aren't some planners who might consider jumping the whole truck-traffic issue by restoring freight trains for long distance hauling.
In the conversation I heard about a libramiento, the idea seemed to be to have it start at Zimpizahua and completely bypass all of Coatepec. This obviously would not be easy to get to, either, without some other assistance. The people were discussing a four lane highway and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. In my experience as a resident of San Antonio, build highways and they will come, so to speak. AND they do a lot to destroy downtowns and urban neighborhoods.
The libramiento project is apparently lagging because of slowness to acquire necessary properties. Thank God! Highway-building really should not be equated with progress, nor seen as necessary for progress. In this day and age, we really have to avoid lateral thinking.
More comments welcome! I'm opinionated but I listen.