Posted by altogringo on September 19, 2000 at 16:59:40:
| Complaints prompt Mexico to hold off plan to shut popular path By Anna Cearley UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER September 19, 2000 TIJUANA -- Mexican officials are reconsidering their plan to close a crosswalk at the border used by thousands of northbound pedestrians each day. The crosswalk, which traverses more than seven lanes of border traffic, was to be shut down earlier this month because it goes directly across a new fast-track commuter lane. Cars in the commuter lane travel faster than the stop-and-go traffic in the regular lanes, and the closure was intended to prevent pedestrian accidents. But vendors who have shops near the route complained they would lose customers if pedestrians were rerouted. And border-crossers were annoyed with the alternative, slightly longer route proposed by Mexican officials. For now, officials are keeping the crosswalk open. To make the walk safer, they've placed red stop signs along the fast-track lane. "This created a lot of talk among those who use the crossing and some said close it, and others said don't close it. Now we are letting things calm down, and we will reconsider the topic in the future," said Miguel Angel Méndez Martnez, administrator of a federal agency that oversees the border zone. |
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