Just announced by governor Elorduy.
He is going to push to get federal funds to start in 2005!!Mike Humfreville - 11-7-2004 at 02:56 AM
Suspect he means he'd propose paving the road from San Felipe to Gonzaga and then out to Hwy 1 @ Laguna Chapala. Hwy 1 would then take you south to
the turnoff to Bahia de Los Angeles.
I'm sure a road could be built directly between Gonzaga and Bahia de Los Angeles, but it'd have a lot of unnecessary complications.Desertbull - 11-7-2004 at 07:44 AM
...and Escalera Nautica is coming as well....ROTFLMAOCorky1 - 11-7-2004 at 09:03 AM
Why don't they just leave "OUR" Baja the way it is??
Look what happened in 1972-73 when they paved the other road.
Lots of "touristas"
I guess we better go as often as possible!!
Corky
Don't worry Be Happy
Bruce R Leech - 11-7-2004 at 10:30 AM
Don't worry there is not much chance they are going to do it just because they announce it . some things have not changed here , and politics is one.
Changing times
jrbaja - 11-7-2004 at 10:43 AM
Whether the politics have changed here or not, Baja is changing before our eyes.
It is a neck and neck race between the Canadians building from the south and the Gringos from the north.
It has nothing to do with escalera nautica and paved roads. It has to do with new roads, development, and over population of the planet.
Places like Loreto Bay and the countless other plans for Baja are just around the corner. It will more than likely be an entirely different
peninsula in many of our lifetimes if these projects actually happen.
What will 5000 homes do to Highway 1? It will cause a lot of accidents and then the road will be widened. And then more people will feel safer
traveling "the Baja" so it will "snowball" which it basically is already!
This is what's going on here and I don't see any way to stop it. Other than starting bamboo parks in as many places as possible teaching the locals
about the uses, and providing jobs and revenue for the locals as well as the government.
Howz about that fer an idear !!
SAN FELIPE - PUERTECITOS
amarena - 11-7-2004 at 12:41 PM
The road has to be finished before he leaves office on 12/01/2007, it was aproved in a cabinet meeting last week,
first stage is repaving San Felipe to Puetecitos, the next is paving the road to San Luis Gonzaga, then his plan is to continue to LA bay, unless the
federal goverment only allows him to continue on to H 1.
Baja belongs to all of us, we have to be happy that this projects benefit Mexico, but we need to be careful with the big developers like Loreto Bay
so Baja is not damaged.Packoderm - 11-7-2004 at 12:41 PM
Is this off-base from most people's reasoning? "I'd like to travel this new paved road, but I do not want everybody else to be able to do the same
because it will wreck that part of Baja."David K - 11-7-2004 at 12:57 PM
The highway was constructed, just not paved, finished back in 1986 (San Felipe to Laguna Chapala). 10 years later it was paved to Puertecitos... the
contractor was jailed because he applied so little asphalt, it fell apart. It was repaved half way to Puertecitos a couple years ago.
The area between Gonzaga Bay and L.A. Bay is not possible to build a direct highway across, at least not financially feasible. It is mountain ridges
and deep canyons to the sea. From Chapala to L.A. Bay there already is a paved highway.
won't happen in my lifetime
BajaVida - 11-7-2004 at 05:00 PM
I still remember the markers on the side of the road south of Puertecitos showing the road was "about to be paved." And that was more than 10 years
ago.Desertbull - 11-7-2004 at 06:43 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
The area between Gonzaga Bay and L.A. Bay is not possible to build a direct highway
Please don't take this as a direct insult...I know that's hard to fathom...but ANYTHING is possible to build nowadays...and I say ANYTHING. Let alone
it would be very easy to build a highway through this section...easier than you could ever imagine.
Buy your land now...just imagine a restraurant at Shell Beach....LOLBruce R Leech - 11-7-2004 at 07:04 PM
in context without the spin
The area between Gonzaga Bay and L.A. Bay is not possible to build a direct highway across, at least not financially feasible.surfer jim - 11-7-2004 at 07:12 PM
I just signed a contract for the first BURGER KING...for SHELL BEACH.....Desertbull - 11-8-2004 at 08:19 AM
That's funny caca..Burger King at Shell Beach...next we'll here about an AM/PM at Puertocitos...ROTFLMAO
anybody who doesn't think you could easily
capt. mike - 11-8-2004 at 12:38 PM
build a road from puertocitos to gonzaga and beyond to BOLA has not taken the train thru copper canyon up tp Creel!
that will blow your mind as to what's possible with a little engineering know how and labor. Mike Humfreville - 11-8-2004 at 01:08 PM
It's not that it couldn't be done, but if they don't choose to deal with the San Felipe-to-Puertecitos road why would they build a road directly
between Gonzaga and Bahia de Los Angeles? It sounds good as it would give us a few new view points but I can't see it happening. As there are
already routes that carry us there the only advantage would be getting there more quickly and since when has that been important in Mexico? The most
likely reason we go or live there is to not be rushed for time.David K - 11-8-2004 at 06:38 PM
Imagine a coastline like Puertecitos to Huerfanito where there was no other, better place to build a road. Well, Punta Final (Gonzaga) to L.A. Bay is
just like that if not tougher only four times longer.
Why would they build such a thing when there already is a paved road from Chapala (where a paved road from Gonzaga will come out) to L.A. Bay?
As Bruce pointed out, without the spin, my statement was "... not economically feasible" NOT that it was impossible to do.
Other than a fishing camp at Puerto Calamajue (near the north end), and a seasonal camp at Guadalupe/Remedios, this is an unpopulated coast, with
vertually no beaches or usable coast.
Erle Stanley Gardner had to use helicopters to explore the area (Arroyo Salsipuedes/Get out if you can wash) because the land was too harsh even with
his specialty vehicles and bikes. The sea offered no easy beach head, either.
Nope, no direct highway between Punta Final and La Gringa. And yes JR, I have driven all the possible roads in that area (El Toro, Guadalupe, and way
out to Candeleros). My kids and I camped out there, alone... then went to the 'gringo encave' as you call L.A. Bay to camp with the Humfreville's.
Access to the two above points was via deep east-west canyons from the two dry lakes. http://vivabaja.com/1202bufeo - 11-8-2004 at 07:06 PM
...and in 1924 it was deemed economically infeasible, if not impossible to build the Pacific Coast Highway connection between
Monterey, California, and Morro Bay, California. It was started in 1931 and completed in 1937.
I don't begrudge the citizens of BCN to improve their economy, but I will not look forward with enthusiasm to the day when this highway becomes
reality.
[Edited on 11-9-2004 by bufeo]
When all of the places
jrbaja - 11-8-2004 at 07:35 PM
that have easy access are full of homes, the rest will start to develop as well.
We chased deer out of Laguna Niguel, with our building, which used to be some pretty wild country!
And, I don't know if anyone has noticed but there is a lot of money being spent on roads in both Baja Norte y Sur.
And not just repairs either!David K - 11-8-2004 at 07:49 PM
... and when they built the last section of the Baja Highway (San Quintin to Santa Rosalia) in 1973... The extra narrow roadbed (so they had enough
money for the distance) was descibed as temporary! The road was SOON to be widened for safety, etc. tim40 - 11-8-2004 at 08:14 PM
I would be willing to give odds (say, 3 to 1 beers of choice) that this will get started in the next 18 months and finish within 60 months. One only
has to go down 1 to realize that there is now a 'locals' mandate to have an alternate route to Sur. Don't like, but look at one of my posts early in
the year, I thought it would come up....it is now 'politically sexy'.
We shall see.
jrbaja - 11-8-2004 at 09:14 PM
Anyone who has traveled around in Baja has seen the changes that are abruptly happening.
Even in the mountains where there isn't much tourist action, the roads are being "improved".
There are a number of reasons for this besides tourism and development too. It's actually not All about tourists.
The Mexican government is interested in helping the citizens and rancheros in the remote communities. They are like that.
One of the ways they are doing this is by maintaining and improving access to some of these areas. They provide financial assistance to larger
businesses such as le?eros which is one of the few possibilities for making some income for these true Baja people.
It is happening all over. The current government is all for it, the people like it, and it is happening. They are not stupid!
Now, this combined with gringo and canadian development, GPS coordinates of tia gertrudas' outhouse being posted on the internet by foreigners, and a
lack of scary stories about Baja in the media recently, will surely open a few eyes to what is really going on here David, in the very near future.
Probably even yours.
It's called progress...
Mexray - 11-8-2004 at 09:27 PM
Just think of all the new straight paved sections that can be used to land small planes for unloading their 'special' cargos...
I guess Coco will have to order some new signs that read, "Coco's Offramp"...
Naw,
jrbaja - 11-8-2004 at 09:31 PM
Just follow the walmart signs. That's a pretty strategic location for a mall and outlet center Coco's will be right next door!edevart - 11-8-2004 at 09:48 PM
I will agree with you guys and say that the citizens of BCS y N ought to be able to develop at their own pace. However, as seen in so very many other
occasions in Mexico, the people that benefit from so-called "progress" (i.e. new hotels, new roads, new developments) are never the locals that live
there, but usually outsiders. There are so many examples of this in Mexico, it is painful to recall....Cancun--everyone from the developers to the
Mexican government hailed the new development of Cancun as a boon for the local (mostly Mayan) population living there. They promised jobs, they
promised money, they promised a new life. What happened? The locals (mayan and not) were forced to move out when the cost of living got too high and
the jobs were taken by the massive influx of foreigners and Chilangos. Example #2-- the ESSO salt works project outside Guerrero Negro. When the
project was first planned, the developers promised to revitalize the region, improving roads, building schools, employing exclusively locals. What
happened? Mitsubishi imported "skilled" employees from Japan and elsewhere that now live in a gated compound separate from the locals and Guerrero
Negro remains a town of dirt roads and crumbling infrastructure.
So, although I love the idea of giving everyone a chance, I fear the reality. Nothing sounds more like money pouring into the pockets of rich
developers than a paved road from Puertocitos to Hwy 1.David K - 11-9-2004 at 12:06 AM
Very interesting read Ed. I have heard the same about Cancun. Now Cabo will go that way, and soon Loreto, too.
I look forward to reading more from you... welcome to Nomad!
One comment I have is Guerrero Negro did not exist before the salt operation... Began as 'Salina Vizcaino' about 1957, but soon changed the name to
that of the lagoon it was near. It was a salt mining town from the start, far from the original main road.
The paved highway was alligned to pass just 2 miles from it in 1973. After that it became more service oriented instead of a pure 'company town'. Mike
Humfreville saw it in '67 and can tell you more. wilderone - 11-9-2004 at 09:28 AM
"...and a lack of scary stories"
Keep them scary stories coming.
From the Alaskan Camper Web site...
Mexray - 11-9-2004 at 10:54 AM
as shown on the back of a camper...
PAVED ROADS:
A Fine Example of Needless
Government Spending.wornout - 11-13-2004 at 07:14 PM
Just heard a group of about 15 local businessmen have begun the process of building a quarry a little south of San Felipe. The purpose? To provide
building materials for the pavement of the road south of San Felipe where it needs it. Stay tuned for more updates as they happen.tim40 - 11-13-2004 at 08:45 PM
I guess folks on the board all agree with my position and have no interest in the beer odds I am offering....It is all but a done deal. The need is
now a local one with local driving force. Mike Humfreville - 11-13-2004 at 09:08 PM
Going back to Edevart?s post regarding jobs for the locals rather than the big guys in Mexico D.F., it was rewarding to watch the fishing folks in the
Ejido at Bahia de Los Angeles a while back deal with the Escalera Nautica. They wrote a great very detailed letter regarding what they expected and
what they didn?t. They insisted that the DF folks running the show agreed that a significant number of jobs be left for locals and that the community
there was influenced in a way they could live with. Apparently the Government tried to bluff the DF folks and the DF folks, not knowing the area,
threatened to move their plans to the next bay north, Bahia Guadalupe. Well, the locals told them to go ahead, move their project to Guadalupe.
I?ve spent significant time in Bahia Guadalupe, both on the land and on the water. While it?s a pretty place and very isolated, the wind howls
constantly. There is something in the configuration of the peninsula that draws wind there. So the locals knew what they were doing and the DF folks
hadn?t a clue.
This story has been iterated so many times and changed slightly, but it?s great to hear about the locals winning over the big bucks folks and getting
what they wanted: to keep the village pretty much as it is now. Desertbull - 11-14-2004 at 10:28 AM
Ahhhhhh...the road to LA Bay!
Yesterday we ran from San Felipe to LA Bay and wow...the road is fast and beautiful..sorry for the good road report Bufeo...but its really pretty
sweet.
At Coco's we followed the RC and the wash is in great shape and looks beautiful as the prerunning has smoothed out the roads...
Currently, we are parked at Camp Gecko overlooking the bay...running 5 laptop off my Wireless MotoSat...but more importantly to you guys is the
update.
Weather Temp - 69 degrees
Skys - Slight cloud cover
Water Temp - 75 degrees
Few people at Camp Gecko-Doc is not
and...all is bueno and Debra's palapa is available and I've delivered two boxes of Central Valley's finest grape drink awaiting her arrival...
[Edited on 11-14-2004 by Desertbull]
Killin me
FrankO - 11-14-2004 at 10:31 AM
rub it in a little deeper.Desertbull - 11-14-2004 at 01:53 PM
Had drinks on your porch last night...I owe you one....hahhhh...lol
Hey Tim
capt. mike - 11-14-2004 at 02:31 PM
sure wish we could have hooked sat nite in mulege, you still have BB and Sergio on board? where you going to be thurs eve?
