Pelicanos Street Construction

For those of you who have been in Sayulita the last several months, you’ve likely noticed the construction work on Pelicanos Street. The dirt road has become cobblestoned, and there is a partial sidewalk that runs alongside the street. Daniel Camacho Venegas, Secretary of Transit for Pueblo Magico in Sayulita, as well as Technical Secretary for “Mi Sayulita,” a merchant association, tells El Sayulero about this project and where it currently stands.

First off, where did the funds for this project come from?

The funds came from the federal government via a federal program that is designated for Pueblo Magicos. Out of the 111 Pueblo Magicos in Mexico, every pueblo submitted a list of needed projects. So, we (the Pueblo Magico committee) submitted a list of projects that Sayulita needs and ranked them from what we most need to what we least need. While we did mention needing a new boulevard, it was among the very last things that we wanted. But, it just so happens that at the same time, there was a big investment from the part of the federal program for boulevards. That’s why we have the new Sayulita boulevard, the new Mezcales boulevard, and others that were built all around the state of Nayarit. So, basically the funds were earmarked for Nayarit, and they put the Sayulita boulevard as a project of Pueblo Magico.

How was it decided that some of the funds would be earmarked for Pelicanos Street?

Well, when the federal government notified us (the Pueblo Magico Committee) that they were going to start with the boulevard, we were pretty unhappy about it since the boulevard wasn’t our prime concern.

We wanted the water treatment plant to be fixed, rather than money going into a boulevard that we didn’t really need. Then the government explained to us that the money was only directed towards building boulevards. So, we couldn’t say, “Hey, instead of the boulevard, we want the money to go towards the treatment plant,” because that’s not how politics work, from what I see. Instead, we met with the high level secretaries from the state and the federal government to try to negotiate getting Libertad and Pelicanos cobblestoned rather than building the boulevard. But, Libertad couldn’t be cobblestoned because there is no sewage system from half way up, and a full system is needed in order to put in cobblestone. But, they would do Pelicanos, although not on a big scale.

Is the construction finished?

It isn’t quite done yet. They still haven’t finished the sidewalk, which is on the left hand side of the street if you look at it from town towards the Punta de Mita highway. There also aren’t any street signs yet.  

Will the street be one-way? If so, which direction will traffic go?

It will be one way – one way from downtown Sayulita towards the Punta de Mita highway.

Will there be parking along the street still?

No, there won’t be any parking on the street because there is no room. And there definitely won’t be any parking allowed on the sidewalks. The only parking that will be available will be the parking that people have in their own garages.

Are there plans for future maintenance, if needed? If so, who maintains the street? 

Yes, there should be maintenance like there is for every other street in Sayulita. Obras Publicas is in charge of the maintenance.

Will large tour buses be given access to Pelicanos? 

We are trying to push an initiative for tour buses to park by the Pemex station.

That’s where they should be, because Sayulita doesn’t have the space to allow a tour bus, or a big bus in general, to be inside the town. Also, when they drop off the people, it creates chaos. So, we are going to try to keep them outside of town. We have nice sidewalks on the boulevard now, so people are welcome to walk. There are also taxis, so people are welcome to get a taxi. But, tour buses have to stop coming into town, as they create mayhem. They create one of the biggest traffic issues when it comes to dimensions of a vehicle.

The water flow from the newly cobblestoned Pelicanos on to the side streets, such as Tamarindo, has caused major damage. Are there plans to fix this?

Yes, definitely. Right now you can’t turn on to Tamarindo from Pelicanos for any reason due to the damage caused from the water flow. We’re waiting for the new government people (the new administration) to enter office, but we’re already locally talking with them. They are coming in with no money and have to pay off a huge debt, but I think they are willing to cooperate as far as giving permissions and really helping out. So, we are going to see what we can do as a community to fix this.

Will there be traffic wardens manning Pelicanos street (and traffic) like they did last year?

If the community demands it, we shouldn’t have a reason not to have traffic wardens there. However, the new president said that it would be totally unnecessary because we will have full presence of local transitos. So, we hope that proves true. But, if not, we are willing to jump in if we need action.