Vialidad

Image of the wrecked bus at the scene of the accident. Photo: Courtesy.

After losing its brakes, a bus carrying workers crashed into the side of the Tuxcueca-Citala highway, leaving 14 people dead and 19 more injured. The accident occurred during the night of May 18.

The blue vehicle with the logos of the Ruza company was transporting workers from a berry company after a day’s work when its brakes failed..

Nine men and five women lost their lives in the accident, while another six women and 13 men were injured and were taken for medical attention to the Municipal Medical Services and the Jocotepec Community Hospital.   

Some of the injured were treated at the regional hospital in Jocotepec, while others had to be transferred to Guadalajara due to the seriousness of their injuries.

During the support operation, security officers of the Secretary of National Defense, officers of Public Security of Tuxcueca and the State Police participated. Other support included the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences (Ocotlán Delegation); Medical Services of Jocotepec; Tuxcueca Firefighters; as well as Civil Protection officers of the command of Mazamitla, Chapala and Jocotepec in addition to the Highway Police, Investigative Police (Agency of Tizapán el Alto) and State Civil Protection.

Translated by Kerry Watson

This is how the new speed bumps look that are installed on El Molino Road. Photo: JocoPiolin Official.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).-  Accidents on the El Molino Road stretch have decreased after the installation of speed bumps.

On February 13, a heavy vehicle overturned on this stretch, spilling 300 liters of ethanol and causing the road closure for more than 24 hours. As of May 19, no more accidents have been recorded.

A little more than a month after the last accident, the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT) installed a series of speed bumps on the stretch known as “La Engorda” on the Guadalajara-Morelia highway.

According to María Dolores “Lolis” López Jara, the local deputy for district 17 who managed the project to prevent traffic accidents, these bumps are only a “temporary measure” while a long-term one is being developed.

Lopez Jara said they are still working to install some kind of signage or indicators, “because they can take you by surprise and reduce your speed all of a sudden.”

Although the congresswoman said there has been no record of another accident, largely due to the temporary solution, some drivers have been taken by surprise.

Rodrigo, who regularly travels this stretch of road, said the new speed bumps surprised him. “They are a bit dangerous and you can’t see them. I hadn’t been this way for a while and I was caught by surprise,” he commented.

The measure was undertaken by the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) after the high accident rates on this stretch of road. In a period of less than one year, more than 89 accidents were registered in which 19 people lost their lives.

Translated by Mary Woods

The impact was slight, with no injuries. 

Editorial Staff.- Two cars merging from the Ajijic beltway onto the Chapala-Jocotepec highway were involved in a minor rear-end accident on the afternoon of May 17.

Even though the accident caused only minor damage, the drivers involved had to wait for their insurance companies to arrive. Despite the fact that the damaged vehicles did not block through traffic, curious onlookers in passing vehicles caused traffic to slow.

Translated by MaryAnne Marble

Imagen del camión siniestrado, en el lugar del accidente. Foto: Cortesía.

Redacción.- Al menos 14 personas perdieron la vida y 19 más resultaron heridas luego del choque de un camión de pasajeros que transportaba trabajadores de una empresa productora de berries, cuando se quedó sin frenos y se impactó contra un paredón lateral sobre la carretera Tuxcueca – Citala.

El percance que se registró durante la tarde noche del 18 de mayo donde perdieron la vida nueve hombres y cinco mujeres, mientras que otras seis mujeres y 13 hombres resultaron heridos y fueron trasladados a los Servicios Médicos Municipales y Hospital Comunitario de Jocotepec para su atención médica.   

Durante el operativo de apoyo, participaron elementos de Seguridad de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional; elementos de Seguridad Pública de Tuxcueca y la Policía del Estado.

Así como del Instituto Jalisciense de Ciencias Forenses (Delegación Ocotlán); Servicios Médicos de Jocotepec; Bomberos Tuxcueca; así como elementos de Protección Civil de la comandancia de Mazamitla, Chapala y Jocotepec además de la Policía Vial, Policía Investigadora (Agencia de Tizapán el Alto) y Protección Civil del Estado.

The collision snarled traffic. 

No lives were lost in the accident, but there was heavy traffic in the area. This is not the first time that a heavy truck has been involved in an accident on this road. 

Translated by Kerry Watson

A planter had to be moved with a crane to allow the truck to pass.

After unsuccessful maneuvering attempts and wanting to move the other truck, the operators decided to call a crane to move a planter so that the pickup, whose owner was not present, could be moved and the mammogram unit could get out of the situation.

Translated by Paul Weeks

By: Patrick O’Heffernan

Back in November 2021, our reporter in Jocotepec, Héctor Ruiz Mejía,  wrote a story about the trash problem in San Juan Cosalá. He described garbage trucks with no gas, rats invading homes, a school with   weeks’ worth of garbage stacked in front of its gates, and more.

Part of the problem is the refusal of Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos to allow Jocotepec to continue dumping in the GEN landfill, a problem which the municipality is working on.  But something else has come to my attention:  the deterioration of the Carretera into the landfill that Jocotepec sorely needs.

If you drive from Ajijic to Joco and pass through the happy gauntlet of touts directing your attention to the seafood restaurants that line the lakefront, you won’t notice  the piles of garbage lining the highway across from the eateries.  In fact, one restaurant even has a large billboard announcing its presence astride a growing pile of garbage and debris.

Garbage, construction debris, junk, and old furniture now l fill open areas of the roadside of  the Carretera practically from the county line to Jocotepec. Garbage trucks have nowhere to put what they collect . But people have to put it somewhere and the roadside is the easiest and most available place.   

Trash on the Carretera in restaraunt row

But do you really want to take your out of town visitors to any of the great restaurants along the lake when you have to drive through a smelly field of trash?  Maybe not – after all there are so many great restaurants in both Chapala and Jocotepec on clean, trash-free streets. Some even have great lake views.

To be fair, you can’t blame the Jocotepec municipality  for the problem of the lack of a landfill  and you have to cheer them for trying to solve it.  The Carretera  – Highway 23 – is Federal property; neither the state nor the municipalities have the authority nor the  funds to clean it. And it is not fair to ask businesses along the Carretera to clean up the piles every day;  that is what they pay taxes for. And where would they put it?

Perhaps the solution lies in the kind of collaboration and citizen action we have seen in Ajijic and Chapala.  Until Jocotepec acquires a landfill, Expats and Mexican citizens and local  businesses can raise funds, purchase a dedicated garbage truck, lease a piece of land, fence it and clean up the highway until Jocotepec has the funds and  a landfill.

Yes, the  Carretera Federal is managed by the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, SCT) and it is the Federal government’s responsibility. But let’s face it, the garbage would completely block the highway before the SCT got around cleaning the roadside. 

 In Chapala, expats have purchased fire trucks for the Bomberos.  Why not a garbage truck for the Jocotepec Carretera?  In Ajijic, the delegado has organized citizens to fill potholes; why not similar brigadistas in Joco to load trash from the roadside into the  truck and haul it to a properly fenced and managed leased site.

This is a temporary solution to be sure, but the investment and the collaboration will last a long time and give the Jocotepec government and people an opportunity to show how well they care for their community . And might even pay for itself in increased business to the lakeshore restaurants.

Tras el incidente, elementos de Protección Civil y Bomberos acudieron a rellenar la grieta. 

Héctor Ruiz Mejía.- Como una subsidencia geológica sin causa determinada, fue como Sergio Herrera Robledo, director de la Unidad de Protección Civil y Bomberos de Jocotepec, catalogó la grieta que brotó en la calle Vicente Guerrero el pasado 26 de abril.

Herrera Robledo descartó que ese incidente represente un riesgo mayor para la ciudadanía, aunque dijo que sí se debe transitar con cuidado por la zona, así mismo, reportar cualquier evento similar.

Pues dichos eventos geológicos, los cuales se describen como hundimientos de la superficie podrían tener varias causas, explicó el funcionario, ya sea el movimiento de las placas tectónicas u factor aún no esclarecido.

Al respecto, vecinos de la calle Vicente Guerrero, a su cruce con Pedro Moreno se mostraron preocupados al ver que “bachearon” la grieta de más de ocho metros lineales sin hacer los dictámenes adecuados; no obstante, Herrera Robledo aclaró que fue la Unidad de Protección Civil quien mandó hacer dicha obra.

Asimismo, informó que en los próximos días un equipo de geólogos se encargará de hacer un extenso estudio geofísico, el cual estará dividido en cuatro dictámenes para entender las posibles causas de la falla.

Fue una cámara de seguridad de la zona la que captó el momento exacto en el que el pasado 26 de abril, de forma repentina, una grieta rompió el concreto de la calle Vicente Guerrero, dejando una nube de polvo y un puñado de escombro.

The violent event was recorded during the early evening of April 25. Photo: Twitter.

Editor.- A man and a woman were fatally wounded while drinking in a bar on the Guadalajara-Morelia highway, in the municipality of Tuxcueca, on April 25.

Municipal police responded to the scene in San Luis Soyatlán after gunfire was reported at approximately 6.20 p.m.

Inside the bar, agents found the deceased male victim with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. The injured woman was taken to receive medical attention but died upon arrival at the aid station.

The bodies were transferred to the region’s amphitheater for the autopsy required by law. The victims were not immediately identified.

Various shell casings were found at the scene of the shooting. Evidence was secured with the support of experts from the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences.

Translated by Alan Ferguson

The van rolled a few meters.  

Editor: A pickup truck traveling on the Jocotepec bypass went off the asphalt, fell down a slope and overturned. The incident occurred during the afternoon of April 15. 

After the truck rolled a few meters down a slope near the flagpole, the driver of the gray truck was trapped inside the unit. The Civil Protection and Firefighters of Jocotepec helped the victim, who was not seriously injured.

Translated by Nita Rudy