A 20-million-peso (US $1.1 million) public works project to divert stormwater runoff has been announced by the mayor of San Pedro Mixtepec.
The project is intended to alleviate the effects hurricanes and other storms have on public infrastructure and the environment with a 2-meter-wide drainage channel that will run for two kilometers on the Coast Highway from the Benito Juárez statue at Avenida Oaxaca to the second entrance of Bacocho.
Mayor Javier Cruz Jiménez explained some of the details of the project during an interview with the local news show Puerto Global. He said the channel will divert stormwater away from inhabited areas and Bacocho Beach.
Accumulated runoff, the mayor explained, can cause flooding in lower areas, while sweeping up garbage along the way, eroding topsoil and even posing the risk of mudslides.
The runoff also puts at risk the only clean beach certification issued by the federal government for Puerto Escondido, as Bacocho Beach lies about 700 meters from the road.
Cruz said the project complements another rainwater channel being built in the Costa Chica area, along Calle Álvaro Carrillo (formerly Salinas de Gortari). Both will leave Puerto Escondido better prepared for hurricanes and the accompanying rainfall.
While Cruz stressed that most of the 20 million pesos allocated will be spent on the channel itself, the affected area will also be spruced up with greenery, bus stops, benches and fountains, creating a walkable area along the highway.
The mayor did not give a timeline for the project, which was selected over several others presented at a community assembly April 23.
El Sol de Puerto
