Second Floor in Zacatecas, Urban Modernity or Heritage Impairment

Abstract

López Mateos Boulevard in Zacatecas is one of the most important vehicular traffic axes in this city; Said axis centralizes 17 public transport routes that come from Guadalupe, intermediate zone and southern neighborhoods, which are characterized by their high marginalized population. The idea of creating a second floor within the city of Zacatecas was born with the search for a design for an integral project of mobility and urban expression that was feasible, durable and sustainable, which at the same time guaranteed the protection of the landscape of the Historic Center of Zacatecas. Zacatecas.

In the first instance, Amalia García Medina was the first to propose the Second Floor as a solution to this problem, but ICOMOS intervened, ruling that its construction was inappropriate given the impact on the urban cultural landscape, but without managing to put this idea aside, today it has been taken up as an alternative for the improvement of the automotive mobility of the boulevard. The design of the proposal consists of a load-bearing structure that would use prestressed beams and frames supported by vertical elements that will receive concentrated point loads.

On the other hand, some of the consequences that the construction of this work would have, will be the cause of the closure of at least one lane, which will slow down the vehicular flow on both levels. On the other hand, another condition that works against it is the ramps for ascending and descending to the second floor, which will also subtract the 2 central lanes, which will create future bottlenecks. Likewise, the complex system in the design of the viaduct that causes the topographic slope to be so pronounced that it will capture the pluvial runoff in the rainy season, which will contribute to flooding in nearby shopping centers and, of course, to the boulevard. Lastly, the existence of a natural gas pipeline confined to the vehicular corridor that interferes with a danger factor if the construction of said second floor is considered.