Tijuana is expanding a citywide effort to make pedestrian corridors safer, with 14 additional “Safe Routes” planned after more than 30 have already been established across the city.
The routes are part of “Tijuana Iluminada,” a municipal strategy that uses public lighting alongside pedestrian mobility and public-space improvements to address areas frequently used by students, workers and families.
Recent projects have focused particularly on areas around schools. In the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood, for example, solar lighting was added at Technical Secondary School No. 33 and CBTis 237, while another project in Natura added lighting around a military high school and throughout the surrounding residential development.
Solar lighting expands beyond school corridors
The strategy has also reached other parts of the city.
In El Refugio, 12 solar-powered lights were installed along a 145-meter stretch of the Tijuana-Tecate free highway. Other work has included LED lighting and electrical infrastructure improvements along Vía Rápida Oriente, Fundadores Boulevard and Infonavit Lomas Verdes.
The scale of individual projects varies considerably. The Natura development, for example, received 200 additional lights, while 77 were installed at the General Enrique Bordes Mangel Military High School.
A citywide safety strategy
“Tijuana Iluminada” began during the administration of former mayor Ismael Burgueño (currently on leave) and has continued under current Mayor Abdiel Gutiérrez Coronado, with the expansion of the Safe Routes remaining a major component.
The city has also presented the initiative to the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration, where Tijuana was selected alongside Nuevo Laredo as an example of municipalities implementing public policies focused on community well-being.
With 14 more routes planned, the city is continuing to use public lighting not simply as an infrastructure upgrade, but as part of a broader effort to improve how residents move through and use public spaces.
