Ecobreves – MEXICO: Building a Bike Path

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

MEXICO CITY, Mar 24 2003 (IPS) - The capital's government has begun work on a 90-km bikeway, demanded for more than a decade by cycling enthusiasts, but who now complain that the project does not go far enough. The bike path is not part of a broader plan to promote bicycle use and discourage the polluting option of automobiles, says the non-governmental group Bicitekas. The new route will only serve as a recreational area on weekends, it argues.

Mexico City, one of the most polluted in the world, lacks an integral program to foment the use of bicycles, special infrastructure and traffic education. Cyclists say that they put their lives in danger when they ride in the capital's streets.

The bike route, which traverses central parts of the city, is being built by private companies at a cost of some 10 million dollars.