A May 28 meeting between Otay residents and the head of Baja California’s infrastructure agency ended without an agreement, a proposal, or even a date for future talks. The Sube-T elevated highway project remains on a collision course with one of Tijuana’s best-known restaurant corridors.
Arturo Espinoza Jaramillo, director of SIDURT (the state Secretariat of Infrastructure and Urban Development), met with residents at the Otay-Centenario municipal delegation office. Resident spokesperson Rodolfo Toledo said bluntly that nothing was resolved. No follow-up meeting was scheduled.
Foundation Work Paused on Avenida Centro Comercial
Espinoza Jaramillo told reporters that foundation work along Avenida Centro Comercial will stop until an agreement is reached with local merchants and residents. The project calls for six concrete foundations along that avenue, each measuring 4 by 6 meters. Seven trees would be removed, and the city of Tijuana has already issued permits for that removal.
The meeting itself was marked by confusion. Half an hour before the scheduled start, authorities notified attendees that the venue would move from the delegation office to a UABC campus. Residents already at the original site rejected the change, and the meeting proceeded at the delegation.
Jorge Alberto Gutiérrez Topete, director of the Sustainable Mobility Institute (IMOS), was present but did not speak during the session. He spoke briefly with some residents afterward.
56 Businesses and 300 Jobs at Stake
The dispute centers on the Sube-T’s route through the Otay Constituyentes gastronomic corridor, a commercial strip founded in 1975. On May 22, merchants filed an amparo (injunction) to block construction after detecting excavation and survey work near parking areas that serve the corridor. Business owners say 56 establishments and roughly 300 direct jobs are at risk.
The Sube-T is a 12-kilometer toll road designed to connect the Morelos Distributor to the Otay port of entry. The state government announced the project on April 1, backed by a private investment exceeding 20 billion pesos (roughly $1 billion USD) from the Prodemex and Grupo Idinsa consortium. Officials say the elevated highway will cut travel times between the two points from 45 minutes to 15 and will carry six lanes, three per direction, with 12 on-ramps and 11 off-ramps.
Residents of nearby colonias including Rinconada de Otay and Otay Constituyentes have joined the opposition. They fear the elevated concrete structure could attract informal commerce and homelessness beneath it.
With no next meeting on the calendar and a legal injunction pending, the standoff between the state and the Otay corridor shows no sign of resolution. Reporting from Semanario Zeta.