BajaNomad - Constitucion's claim to fame.

Constitucion's claim to fame.

vandenberg - 5-9-2009 at 08:11 AM

Just made a trip to La Paz and had the pleasure of getting to admire Constitucion's newly finished roadway through town.
Always a passage marred by local cops, eagerly looking for speed offenders to enrich their local coffers (pockets).
Now you will be lucky to get back up to 15 miles an hour, before coming to a halt at the next light. The city fathers, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to go for some kind of record, hard to do in this dusty, agricultural town, but they found a way. From afar, coming into town, the road is adorned with traffic lights as far as the eye can see, dozens, so it seems.
And of course, in Mexican fashion, all of them are, unerringly, UNsynchronized. And EVERY intersection has a working light. In the centerlane one will have to wait not only for the cross traffic, but also for the turning traffic of both side roads, before getting the green light. Seems like a mere 15 minute wait between lights. And if one has the bad luck of the guy in front of you falling asleep and not noticing the change, the wait could be even longer. And with our gringo ingrained politeness, we wouldn't dare to blow our horn at them and irking the local populace.
As an alternate may I suggest taking the streets a couple of blocks to the east, running parallel with the main drag, and getting through town a bit quicker. The locals must have discovered this, since the traffic, usually heavy on the access roads, was very light both times coming through.
However, if staying on the main road, bring lots of patience and allow for some extra time.

Happy travels :biggrin:

[Edited on 5-9-2009 by vandenberg]

[Edited on 5-10-2009 by vandenberg]

right.jpg - 10kB

rob - 5-9-2009 at 01:20 PM

Just went through Constitucion and suffered as described by Vandenberg. Also had the bad luck to stop at a new PEMEX and get gas before I saw "Auto Express" in small letters . . .

The side street ploy is a stroke of genius.

Bajahowodd - 5-9-2009 at 01:25 PM

"Auto Express"? 'splain, please.

Paulclark - 5-9-2009 at 03:52 PM

But now you have the opportunity to view scenic downtown Constitucion instead of rushing through. Relax, live a little. Open another refreshment and take in the beautiful scenery -- and learn the proper spelling of where you are. :tumble:

Udo - 5-9-2009 at 04:06 PM

:?:

AUTO EXPRESS :?:

vandenberg - 5-9-2009 at 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paulclark
But now you have the opportunity to view scenic downtown Constitucion instead of rushing through. Relax, live a little. Open another refreshment and take in the beautiful scenery -- and learn the proper spelling of where you are. :tumble:

Whatdayatalkingabout :?:

lingililingili - 5-9-2009 at 08:45 PM

You are sooooo right Ed!

bajajazz - 5-9-2009 at 11:28 PM

Drove throuh Constitucion twice recently. Both times hit only one green light out of about 15 -- 14 reds, one green. Nutzoid city planning. Also, anyone else of the opinion that the highway department is going crazy with the proliferation of topes and rumble bars? I think there should be a trade off instated, no topes until all the potholes are fixed, it's one or the other as the potholes make the topes redundant.

Howard - 5-9-2009 at 11:33 PM

I just drove through the town a couple of days ago and was amazed that all the local traffic obeyed all the red lights with no one jumping the gun. I was hoping they would so I could follow suit but I was to chicken to do so on my own.

Bajahowodd - 5-10-2009 at 12:00 AM

Auto Express remains a mystery. :wow:

Don Alley - 5-10-2009 at 07:06 AM

Auto Express is a chain of Pemex stations in Baja Sur.

I stopped by one in Loreto a couple of days ago to fill a 5 gallon (19 liter) can, to avoid the lines at the non Auto Express station. 23 liters! Magic! And a large, visible leak on the fillup hose over the pump!

Auto Express, where you get more for your money! :biggrin:

CaboRon - 5-10-2009 at 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajajazz
Drove throuh Constitucion twice recently. Both times hit only one green light out of about 15 -- 14 reds, one green. Nutzoid city planning. Also, anyone else of the opinion that the highway department is going crazy with the proliferation of topes and rumble bars? I think there should be a trade off instated, no topes until all the potholes are fixed, it's one or the other as the potholes make the topes redundant.

City planning in mexico is an oxymarooon :lol:

BMG - 5-10-2009 at 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg

And of course, in Mexican fashion, all of them are, unerringly, UNsynchronized.

When we drove through last week I would swear that every light was synchronized to turn red just as I neared the intersection. It does give you time to see every business on both sides of the road while idling through.

Claim To Fame Denied

CaboRon - 5-19-2009 at 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BMG

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg

And of course, in Mexican fashion, all of them are, unerringly, UNsynchronized.

[Edited on 5-19-2009 by CaboRon]

oxxo - 5-19-2009 at 03:55 PM

When I drove through Constitucion last fall they were detouring traffic to the side street. I know the route! No traffic lights, just stop signs that are optional.

flyfishinPam - 5-19-2009 at 08:21 PM

Auto Express franchises = Highway robbery

Howard - 5-26-2009 at 09:00 PM

I am not saying that it took a long time to drive through town but when I started at one end I was clean shaven and by the time I got to the other end I had a 5:00 shadow and it was 9 in the morning!

BajaNuts - 5-26-2009 at 09:02 PM

:lol:

Bajahowodd - 7-12-2009 at 12:00 PM

Remembering this thread, I purposely timed my trip through town. Since I was driving, I couldn't take off my shoes to assist in counting, but I did come up with 11 lights. Northbound, of course, I hit the first one. And so on and so on. Not a green in the bunch. On the "bright" side, it took eleven minutes from the time I hit the first red, until I was clear of the gauntlet. That really is not a lifetime. My guess is that most of us are so conditioned to the speed of the open road, that these lights appear to exxagerate the delay. The down side is that on the auxilliary lanes, I did notice several drivers really gunning it to try and make the next green. With all the shoppers, parked cars, etc., IMHO, whatever traffic gentling the lights provide is negated by those who seek to make it an extra block, while paying more attention to the next light than who may be stepping off the curb.

bajamigo - 7-12-2009 at 12:59 PM

You don't have to have an unsynchronized mess to create traffic calming. It is humanly possible to effect a sensible speed, like 15 or 20 mph, with simple synchronization.

Bajahowodd - 7-12-2009 at 01:15 PM

They probably spend all their money on the light standards and the landscaping, so they can't afford the computer!

Sharksbaja - 7-12-2009 at 01:15 PM

They must be getting our stimulus money. Do you know how much just one traffic light costs?

BajaNuts - 7-12-2009 at 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajamigo
You don't have to have an unsynchronized mess to create traffic calming. It is humanly possible to effect a sensible speed, like 15 or 20 mph, with simple synchronization.

try topes! every 10 meters....works for Centenario!

dtbushpilot - 7-12-2009 at 05:01 PM

Drove through Constitution on the 5th. Was hitting the lights red (naturally) so stopped at Super Pollo for some chicken to make the light to light drive more tolerable. After the last light I took off like a scalded dog reveling in my freedom....for a kilometer or so where I had the good fortune to meet (at their insistence) a pair of Constitutions finest.

The lead cop (good cop) came to the window, asked for my drivers licence and informed me that I was going WAY over the 25kph speed limit in the last block of downtown. I assured him that he was correct and that we should hurry on down to the station so that I could pay my well deserved fine. I also told him that I lived in Baja and understood the system and handed him my "dripping with chicken grease" drivers licence.

The guy really was a nice guy and we were playing the game, he said that the station would close soon, so I said we better hurry. He had a few words with bad cop and informed me that they were out to lunch at the station. I wished him luck getting a job like that some day where you come back from lunch then go home. We had a good laugh and it was funny how his English and my Spanish got better as it went.

Having finished my chicken while we were negotiating I was ready to get back on the road. I asked him if he would be kind enough to pay my fine for me since there may not be anyone there if we went together. He was nice enough to help me out and said the fine was 300 pesos. I assured him that I was only going 200 pesos over the speed limit and handed him the money. I promised him I would slow down, thanked him for paying my fine for me, shook his hand and gave him the rest of my napkins to wipe the chicken grease off his hands.

All in all it was a fun exchange with a nice guy and rather entertaining. I know some of you will want to chastise me for paying mordita. I could have insisted that he take me to the station but had a lot more fun negotiating with him on the side of the road.......dt

JESSE - 7-12-2009 at 06:25 PM

Udo - 7-12-2009 at 07:27 PM

You made my weekend, dt!

Quote:

Originally posted by dtbushpilot
All in all it was a fun exchange with a nice guy and rather entertaining. I know some of you will want to chastise me for paying mordita. I could have insisted that he take me to the station but had a lot more fun negotiating with him on the side of the road.......dt

David K - 7-12-2009 at 07:32 PM

Great story David!

Bajahowodd - 7-13-2009 at 12:22 AM

Entertainment is usually not free. All too often folks on the board get outraged over incidents such as this. But more often than not, it can be fun. And speaking of Super Pollo, has anyone tried their arrrachera? Really good. Not that anyone would necessarily go to a chicken reataurant for beef......

[Edited on 7-13-2009 by Bajahowodd]