On the Mexican side of the border with the United States, visible progress is underway on the construction of a new elevated roadway designed to create a more efficient route and ease vehicle congestion in the city of Tijuana.
Despite these developments, growing concerns have emerged among residents of Playas de Tijuana and surrounding communities, as many locals question how the project will ultimately affect mobility and safety in their neighborhoods.
Residents Fear New Bottlenecks
One of the most recurring concerns is that, far from improving traffic, the viaduct could create new bottlenecks.
“The challenge with this project is that its endpoint stops at the sinkhole,” said a resident of the La Isla neighborhood, referring to the 2023 sinkhole that significantly impacted travel to Playas. “On top of that, there’s no return route, so drivers will be funneled onto the bridge heading to Mirador, which only has a single lane. This creates a bottleneck because no extra lanes were added.”
Since the project began, Colectivo Defendamos Playas, a group made up of residents and civil associations, proposed that the elevated structure extend further to connect with the toll road, with exits toward Playas and nearby neighborhoods, arguing that this would prevent traffic from concentrating in residential areas.
“For us, it doesn’t really matter if it ends at Matadero or at the entrance to Playas—the only thing it will do is shift the congestion zone, because now vehicles heading north that didn’t pass through Playas before will start coming here,” explained Gabriela Guinea, a member of the group.
She added that residents have struggled to navigate traffic jams and keep up with personal commitments, as they believe their commute times have been affected by the construction.
“We’ve spent nearly two years looking for alternate routes. Avenida Internacional is the main entry and exit point for most residents of Playas de Tijuana. It has even impacted those coming from San Diego when Internacional has been closed,” she said.
She also stressed that many neighbors would have preferred the money to be invested in public transportation, pothole repairs, and infrastructure instead:
“Studies show that the more roads and infrastructure are built, the more vehicles there are. It might slightly reduce travel time for those going to the port of entry or the airport, but that gain will be lost again in the bottlenecks that will occur in Playas. What we need is public transportation, not more cars.”
Viaduct Will Not Reach Playas de Tijuana
The original project envisioned a 10.5-kilometer road that would directly connect Aeropuerto Boulevard with the entrance to Playas de Tijuana, via elevated sections and tunnels. Two tunnels were planned: one in the Soler neighborhood and another in La Isla. The latter was scrapped due to technical issues following studies carried out by SEDENA.
Although construction continues, residents have not been properly informed about the changes. Gabriela Guinea mentioned that the only meeting they had with authorities was at the beginning of the project’s presentation. During that meeting, they were shown the initial renderings, but not the updated executive project.
“Communication has been almost nonexistent; there have been no feedback meetings,” she said.
For more information on the changes to the project, continue reading: Elevated Viaduct Will Not Reach Playas de Tijuana
