Chaos at Duarte and Paris is incorrigible
The city will once again relocate the stalls at the intersection
Diario Libre
SANTO DOMINGO. In spite of the resounding plans of organizing the commercial area of Duarte Avenue at the corner of Paris Street, the traffic at the popular intersection still continues to be a marathon-like adventure in which one has to plow through little stands with all kinds of merchandise, motoconchos, cars and buses both public and private, and the refuse.
The disorder seems to have won the battle over the municipal authorities that, like on other occasions, are seeking solutions by relocating the salespeople.
The plans, according to Camilo Tapia, who is in charge of the Department of the Defense and Use of Public Space in the city government (ADN), are on hold, waiting for the acquisition of a vacant lot next to Paris Street, where the stalls can be relocated. The plans are an answer to the failure to maintain them in order and for the time being, on the sidewalks of the intersection, as has been attempted, according to what he says.
The artery is congested. The right-hand lanes on Paris St. in both directions (east and west), are open plazas where the latest fashions in jeans, a piece of roast pork or the "perfect" ointment for good luck are all on sale.
The "motorconchistas" throw themselves into the street as if in effect they had the intention of not allowing anyone to pass, and in doing so, the fight hand to hand with the cars and buses offering public transportation. The situation extends itself invariably towards streets such as Jose Marti, Josefa Brea and Jacinto de la Concha .
Both Alexis Peña as well as Laura Rodriguez, two pedestrians that frequent the area, complain that the place is in chaos, full of garbage and bad smells, but both persons say without much hope that the situation can change.
"It's just that this has been like this for a long time and they don't do anything, and besides, these people (the stall keepers) earn their living like this and they have to do something", said Rodriguez.
The public car driver, Luis Moreno Bautista, says the thinks the problem is not the vendors, but rather "the motorcycles and the bus drivers" that block the road.
"I think that everyone has to cooperate and understand that the street does not belong to any one person but rather to all of us", commented the driver, who also confessed that on some occasions he tricks his fellow drivers by using a whistle (just like the agents from the Metropolitan Transist Authority-AMET), in order to get traffic moving a bit.
The relocation
Alonso Rambalde, the president of the Duarte Stall Owners Association, seemed confident that the project to relocate the stalls will permit the definitive organization of Duarte Avenue. According to him, the census of the number of persons that sell along the street and that will be moved has been finished. As of now there are 173 sellers counted and there are another 78 to be checked out, he said. "This will be definitive, because these sales people that remain are anxious, and awaiting the moment to go".
Rambalde is one of the more than 700 sellers relocated as part of the work on the Duarte Commercial Esplanade, some of whom received modern spaces on the sidewalks of the avenue, and others, such as himself, were transferred to the Stall Owners Plaza on Jose Marti Street. This plaza still has several of its locales unoccupied on the upper floors, since the merchants who were assigned them, did not want them.
Of the total number counted, there are 103 stalls located between the "Huacalito" on 27 of February, going towards Jacinto de la Concha, and Jose Marti and Doctor Betances. There are also another 70 between Paris and 27 of February, according to the details offered by Rambalde.
The disorder seems to have won the battle over the municipal authorities that, like on other occasions, are seeking solutions by relocating the salespeople.
The plans, according to Camilo Tapia, who is in charge of the Department of the Defense and Use of Public Space in the city government (ADN), are on hold, waiting for the acquisition of a vacant lot next to Paris Street, where the stalls can be relocated. The plans are an answer to the failure to maintain them in order and for the time being, on the sidewalks of the intersection, as has been attempted, according to what he says.
The artery is congested. The right-hand lanes on Paris St. in both directions (east and west), are open plazas where the latest fashions in jeans, a piece of roast pork or the "perfect" ointment for good luck are all on sale.
The "motorconchistas" throw themselves into the street as if in effect they had the intention of not allowing anyone to pass, and in doing so, the fight hand to hand with the cars and buses offering public transportation. The situation extends itself invariably towards streets such as Jose Marti, Josefa Brea and Jacinto de la Concha .
Both Alexis Peña as well as Laura Rodriguez, two pedestrians that frequent the area, complain that the place is in chaos, full of garbage and bad smells, but both persons say without much hope that the situation can change.
"It's just that this has been like this for a long time and they don't do anything, and besides, these people (the stall keepers) earn their living like this and they have to do something", said Rodriguez.
The public car driver, Luis Moreno Bautista, says the thinks the problem is not the vendors, but rather "the motorcycles and the bus drivers" that block the road.
"I think that everyone has to cooperate and understand that the street does not belong to any one person but rather to all of us", commented the driver, who also confessed that on some occasions he tricks his fellow drivers by using a whistle (just like the agents from the Metropolitan Transist Authority-AMET), in order to get traffic moving a bit.
The relocation
Alonso Rambalde, the president of the Duarte Stall Owners Association, seemed confident that the project to relocate the stalls will permit the definitive organization of Duarte Avenue. According to him, the census of the number of persons that sell along the street and that will be moved has been finished. As of now there are 173 sellers counted and there are another 78 to be checked out, he said. "This will be definitive, because these sales people that remain are anxious, and awaiting the moment to go".
Rambalde is one of the more than 700 sellers relocated as part of the work on the Duarte Commercial Esplanade, some of whom received modern spaces on the sidewalks of the avenue, and others, such as himself, were transferred to the Stall Owners Plaza on Jose Marti Street. This plaza still has several of its locales unoccupied on the upper floors, since the merchants who were assigned them, did not want them.
Of the total number counted, there are 103 stalls located between the "Huacalito" on 27 of February, going towards Jacinto de la Concha, and Jose Marti and Doctor Betances. There are also another 70 between Paris and 27 of February, according to the details offered by Rambalde.
Diario Libre
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