Topes in Chacala

Some Chacala people who own places along the paved road took matters into their own hand last week. They built two more speed bumps (topes) on the paved road. Thank god.

The noise of the giant trucks speeding up the paved road as they haul dirt and rocks into the gated development is really loud. Some mornings they start at 5am and some nights they go until way after dark. This is the main road, where children are walking to school and grownups to work, and home. Dogs used to sleep on the road, in the sun. Now only suicidal dogs and dead cats can relax on the paved road.And the dust from the trucks is just horrible. I dust every day now, and I live uphill from the road and on the second story. I can just imagine what it’s like for people living level with the road. Or downhill. Laundry gets coated with dust in just a few minutes. Ugh.

Anyway, I guess they built the new topes a little too high. Some cars couldn’t get over the topes without coming to a stop, and had to drive around to the beach road. So some officials came to Chacala, and had the topes scraped off the road with a front loader. It happened the other night, in front of an audience of about fifty people, at dusk.People told me there had been a big meeting that afternoon, at Mars Tres, where local people complained about unending roar and dust from the trucks, plus the very tall topes. They could do something about the topes, but I suspect they won’t be able to get the trucks to slow down, or even toonly drive thru town during normal work hours.The trucks are so dangerous. They are overload with rocks and dirt, and some are very old. They are speeding, especially as they come downhill, leaving town. I am very afraid there with be a terrible accident. I'm afraid it's just a matter of time. It’s very scaryA few days later: This morning there was another first in Chacala. At least, I think it was a first. Two giant cement mixers came up the paved road to the gated development. Speeding, of course. And you could hear them coming for a long time.

Ugh. As far as I know or remember, all the other construction here has been done with hand mixing, and using regular, on site, cement mixers. Whatever.

The photos above are examples of nice buildings built without the use of giant loud cement mixers speeding thru town.