Improving Road Safety and Creating Sustainable Mobility in Hermosillo
14 July 2021
In September 2020, under the Multi-City Challenge Mexico initiative, the city of Hermosillo worked with The GovLab to define a problem to be solved collaboratively with citizens. The public problem: how to reduce motorized mobility in the absence of efficient alternatives and accelerated low urban density. Through an open challenge that took place in October 2020, the municipality received 11 citizen project proposals aimed at reducing motorized mobility, and chose the Tactical Urbanism project proposal to be implemented. For six months the winning citizen team worked with public officials from Hermosillo in idea development, undergoing workshops and training to create a prototype of the project, culminating in the implementation of the pilot program today!
The city began rolling out the pilot Tactical Urbanism in the city of Hermosillo in may 2021. The project aims to promote pedestrian and cyclist mobility in the Centro and 5 de Mayo neighborhoods to improve road safety through efficient, sustainable and equitable routes. The pilot consists of eight safe crossings and a stretch of bike path at different points in the north-central neighborhood and the 5 de Mayo neighborhood in order for the community to feel safer walking and biking through the streets. The goal is to transform Hermosillo into a city that is more open to change through safe and inclusive mobility for all.
The citizens, having had no prior experience collaborating with the municipal government, described how the Multi-City Challenge has been a unique opportunity and one of “the most motivating things we have done during the pandemic because it is something productive that is creating an impact in the city".
The project has the support of both the north-central and 5 de Mayo neighborhoods and community residents participated in painting the crosswalks. Hermosillo artist Andrés Castro designed each crossing to represent different aspects of Sonoran culture.
The crossings are expected to improve road safety, since many of the pedestrian crossings have what are called protected pedestrian crossings which seek to shorten the distance of the crossings, and give pedestrians greater visibility. In addition to representing aspects of Sonoran culture, the artistic and colorful have a double purpose: slowing motorists down and making sure people cross with greater caution. On the other hand, the section of bike path that goes from Rodríguez to la Revolución, unlike others in the city, will be protected by parked cars to provide greater protection to the cyclist.
Additionally, the citizens and the municipal team have received support from the community, including comments from the residents of 5 de Mayo stating they are very grateful for the project given that they want safe crossings throughout the neighborhood. The local press also embraced the project, applauding the efforts of citizens to solve problems in the city, together with the support of the municipality and public officials of Hermosillo.
The streets where the interventions will take place include:
- Tamaulipas and Heriberto Aja
- Tamaulipas and Revolution
- Tamaulipas and Cinco de Mayo
- Veracruz and Cinco de Mayo
- Veracruz and Revolution
- Veracruz and Heriberto Aja
- Nayarit and Revolution
- Crossing from "La Ruina" to "La Cura".
- Ciclovía over Tamaulipas between Boulevard Rodríguez and Revolución
Tactical Urbanism in the Central and Cinco de Mayo neighborhood is a project that has been developed under the Multi City Challenge (MCC) Mexico 2020. The MCC Mexico is a citizen participation program that works with public servants and citizens from Hermosillo, Reynosa, San Nicolás, San Pedro, and Torreón to develop and implement innovative solutions to specific problems. For further updates you can access the project page here.
