Tuesday, April 17, 2007

PASEO MORELIA MALL - APRIL 8TH, 2007

Click on photos to enlarge.
To the right, my truck is parked on the street that leads down from the traffic circle towards Morelia, the connection to the tunnel will be here. To the left of the photo, the mall construction can be seen.


This photo below shows the enormity of the mall, which will encompass close to 90,000 square meters (see gicsa.com.mx). The perimeter road to the right in the photo leads back to my pickup.



It wasn't that easy, but being Easter Sunday, there was very little vigilance in the construction site, so I took the liberty of climbing up inside to get this view of Morelia below. When enlarged, you can see the access road to the right leading up to Tres Marias Golf club. In the foreground, on the far left of the photo, you can see one of the many feral horses that roam these pastures and woods up here. They are as perplexed about what is happening as I am! :)

Monday, April 16, 2007

Golf Course photos - Taken April 8th, 2007

Click on images to enlarge, the Punta Monarca community can be seen to the left. Morelia is in the distance.

Here in this photo, you can appreciate the beauty of the area. The Moorish Group is designing this course. It is aimed to being more "golfer friendly" so that the average duffer can enjoy his/her round time and time again.
I expect the developers are working their best to have the course laid out and seeded, before the seasonal rains come.

Ecological Reserve del Rio Chiquito

One of the biggest obstacles to the construction of the Megatunnel and Mall projects has been that it is being built very near, if not within, an ecological reserve formed under the Government of Lazaro Cardenas en the early 1930s. This reserve is the main watershed region for the city of Morelia with the Rio Chiquito running through it. The reserve is known as the "Cuenca hidrogrfica del Rio Chiquito"


Boundaries are:




1. La Nopalera hill

2. Puerto del Venado

3. Cerro de Aparicio

4. Cerro Alto, Punta de Tierra, La

Rosa

5. Cerro Azul

6. Agua Zarca

7. Cruz de los Zimbos o Cruz Gorda

8. Cerro Verde

9. Pueblo de Jesus del Monte (red X is my house)

PHOTOS OF THE RIO CHIQUITO RESERVE















Sunday, April 15, 2007

Overview of the New Morelia Expansion

This map shows the area of expansion for the New Morelia. The area in blue is where most of the projects will take place.

The dark blue line shows the present road that winds down from Jesus del Monte through Santa Maria, ending in either the Paloma intersection or at Morelos Sur on Camelinas (near the zoo and Star Medica)







The above map shows the long range planned growth of the southern sector of Morelia. Yellow line is Avenida Camelinas. The red line is the current project known as the "Megatunnel" that will connect the city to the upper plateau where the mall, golf course, and numerous planned gated communities will be.

The dark blue shows where a perimeter road is planned connecting the tunnel extension, which would by-pass Santa Maria, El Durazno, and Fracc. Mesoamericano, ending at Libramiento Independencia near Costco (Independencia and Camelinas are one and the same, their name just changes depending on which part of the city you are in.

The brown, aqua, and red roads are planned outlets connecting to the Patzcuaro Highway. When and if all of these roads will be built is anyone's guess, but for now, the Paseo de Morelia Mall, Bosque Monarca Golf course, and tunnel project are under way and due for completion sometime in 2008.

I lifted these aerial photos off of the Morelia government's website. For a detail description of the tunnel project, including re-forestation of trees etc. visit :

http://www.morelia.gob.mx/web/Html/Hechos/Tunel%20Vial/PRESENTACIONtunelPARAinternetOK%20Abril2007.pdf





This photo shows the Cointzio Dammed lake which you can see at the bottom of the previous map.









Saturday, April 14, 2007

Mega tunnel - aerial view of Project


Here is an aerial shot of where the proposed tunnel will be built. You can see the construction of the mall Paseo Morelia in the lower right hand corner of the photo.