BajaNomad - one less toll booth

one less toll booth

Don Pisto - 7-8-2020 at 10:17 AM

good news for those that want to visit the playas from the south

http://ensenada.net/noticias/nota.php?id=61167&fbclid=Iw...

David K - 7-8-2020 at 10:41 AM

or southbound to Rosarito Beach... if I read it correctly, the booth will be used for security and no longer to collect tolls.

BajaNomad - 7-8-2020 at 10:56 AM

Curious if this ends up turning into a road maintenance or security quagmire affecting portions further south... at some point later on.

:?:

elgatoloco - 7-8-2020 at 11:05 AM

Mystery solved for me at least. I rolled thru the booth northbound yesterday just as a caravan of Suburbans and Escalades pulled over and disgorged a bunch of well dressed looking fellows who I can now only assume were the politicos and their bodyguards. There were a lot of locals and I wondered what the protest was about. Now I know.

Now the old marketing change from Toll Road to scenic Road will really be true. :saint:

SFandH - 7-8-2020 at 11:24 AM

Quote: Originally posted by elgatoloco

Now the old marketing change from Toll Road to scenic Road will really be true. :saint:

I think the other tolls booths further south are still in operation.

[Edited on 7-8-2020 by SFandH]

Bob and Susan - 7-8-2020 at 11:44 AM

that site has a trojan virus attached...i wouldnt click the link

del mar - 7-8-2020 at 12:06 PM

business owners in the playa's gotta be happy! :coolup:

elgatoloco - 7-8-2020 at 09:25 PM

Quote: Originally posted by SFandH

Quote: Originally posted by elgatoloco

Now the old marketing change from Toll Road to scenic Road will really be true. :saint:

I think the other tolls booths further south are still in operation.

[Edited on 7-8-2020 by SFandH]

I'm sure they are for now.

I rarely take the Scenic road during daylight hours because the old road is usually the quicker route for me. Yesterday southbound I saw where the NB side was blocked for construction so I did
stay on the Scenic heading back. I did notice that the toll was only $1.75.
I wonder what the toll takers will do for work now.

SFandH - 7-9-2020 at 08:00 AM

The Feds vs. the State, who will win?

https://www.elimparcial.com/tijuana/tijuana/Anuncia-Capufe-q...

"The federal government, through the Ministry of Communications and Transportation, issued a statement this afternoon that considers the decree announced by Governor Jaime Bonilla for the state government to take possession as a violation of the Constitution and related laws from the Playas de Tijuana toll booth."

ehall - 7-9-2020 at 09:08 AM

Just saw that the feds opened the toll booth back up.

David K - 7-9-2020 at 09:39 AM

Hilarious... and they say only in America does the federal and state governments fight!

del mar - 7-9-2020 at 02:39 PM

:lol:

well this ended up being quite the brewhaha! I hope the protesters win this battle.....toll booth should never have been built there!

Mexican federal, state forces battle over a Tijuana toll plaza, as tomatoes fly

BajaNomad - 7-20-2020 at 05:48 PM

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By WENDY FRY
JULY 14, 2020

Playas de Tijuana — A long-running feud over control of a toll road near Tijuana beaches erupted last week as protesters heaved water balloons, tomatoes and rotten eggs at federal highway officials collecting a $1.73 toll.

The dispute has splintered the state and federal governments in Baja California. Typically, the Mexican federal government charges the fee to motorists in both the northbound and southbound directions. But official toll collectors haven’t been present in Tijuana for more than a year since informal groups took control of the toll booths in 2019.

Last week, Baja California Governor Jaime Bonilla issued a formal decree that the state government would control the stretch of coastal highway that runs between Playas de Tijuana and Rosarito, permanently ending the collection of federal fees there.

Bonilla said he considers the fees unfair and unconstitutional.

Before dawn on Thursday, approximately 50 armed soldiers and members of the National Guard arrived and retook control of the toll booths on behalf of the federal government. Fee collection resumed and continued through Monday afternoon, sparking daily protests.

Battles over control of toll booths have been an ongoing issue across Mexico since at least 2018. Protesters with competing interests hijack toll plazas from the federal government and demand motorists “make donations” for various social causes, ranging from boosting teachers’ salaries to replacing homes lost to landslides to workers’ rights for circus performers.

The different groups sometimes gain control of the toll plazas by attacking federal personnel — or whichever competing group is already occupying the toll plaza — with chains, sticks and stones. Other times they simply show up in the middle of the night when no federal authority or competing group is manning the toll plaza.

Where the money the groups collect actually goes remains unknown, according to federal authorities. The federal transportation agency estimates it lost $127.4 million in toll road revenue nationwide in 2019 while groups illegally occupied toll booths preventing federal authorities from collecting the fees. Motorists who have refused to pay donations to the informal groups have been beaten in some areas of Mexico.

A spokesman for Bonilla said the governor negotiated a truce between competing toll-booth occupiers before he took office last November. Bonilla wanted to bring the Tijuana-Rosarito toll road under state control to prevent further rumbles between them, the spokesman said.

The Federal Highways and Bridges Agency (Capufe) issued a news release Thursday saying the governor committed an “illicit act” by attempting to gain control of the federal coastal highway. He could face legal action and fines, according to the news release.

Bonilla responded that the federal re-occupation of the toll plazas was a “gangster move” and called for the resignation of Mexican Communications and Transportation Minister Javier Jiménez Espriú, who oversees the federal transportation agency.

The governor, who is a close friend and long-time political ally of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was in Mexico City on Thursday when the toll booths were re-occupied by federal forces.

In a video posted to social media, Bonilla said he met that day with the federal security minister Alfonso Durazo and told him, " ... if they do not do something quickly the president should ask for the resignation of the minister of communications because this is unforgivable abuse.“

“Here, Baja California will never forgive you,” he added in the live-taped address directed at the federal transportation agency and Jiménez Espriú.

The Baja California state government, under Bonilla, filed criminal complaints Monday against Mexico’s federal government for what they claim was an excessive use of force against protesters on Thursday.

Three people were arrested then, but there have been no reported injuries during the series of protests that took place Thursday through Sunday, according to Juan Carlos Morán, the federal coordinator of Highway Safety.

Morán said Monday he would continue supporting people’s constitutional right to protest as long as the demonstrators did not break the law.

Residents of Playas de Tijuana say they’ve already paid for the construction of the coastal highway, built in the 1960s, through decades of toll-road fees.

They claim the fee is unfair and illegal because they have to pay it several times a day — when they go to drop-off their kids at school, for example, and then again when they return.

Approximately 12,000 residents pay it daily, according to the state government, with nearly half paying it more than once a day. Motorists would have to drive more than 10 miles out of the way to avoid it.

“It’s illegal what they are doing here,” said a driver on Monday, referring to the federal authorities. “It’s a torpedo on the constitution. The Mexican constitution says you cannot collect tolls from residents who live within a certain distance from the toll road, but they have been (doing that) for decades.”

Federal authorities at the toll plaza insisted the driver drive away before he could provide his full name to the San Diego Union-Tribune, and demanded a reporter leave the area.

Baja California Government Secretary Amador Rodríguez Lozano said the dispute with the federal government will be resolved politically and legally without violence between federal forces, protesters, state authorities or toll-plaza occupiers.

“Under no circumstances will this fee collection return; the governor’s determination is clear and forceful,” said Rodríguez, adding the state considers Bonilla’s decree legal and aimed at maintaining the safety of Baja’s citizens.

Sergio Tamai, a leader of the protesters, said Monday the demonstrations will not resume until next Sunday, giving the state and federal governments a week to work it out.

--

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-califo...

BajaBlanca - 7-21-2020 at 03:32 AM

Wow. I wonder who will win this one?