Cuenca-Galápagos flights planned; Micromobility ordinance being prepared; New market opens in Ricaurte; Women’s Expo at Quinta Lucrecia

Lunes, 17/6/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

De El Mercurio del sábado, 15/6 (1 article):
Más de 90 marcas tendrá la ‘Expo Mujer’ (More than 90 brands at the ‘Expo Mujer’) -The ‘Women’s Expo’ 2024 will be at the Quinta Lucrecia los 22 & 23/6 with the event opening a las 10:00 el sábado. The event aims to honor women and promote their empowerment. There will be exhibitors with 92 brands of fashion, home, beauty, and health products. On el domingo, 23/6, there will be a pet parade with 3 categories: Pet and Owner that look most alike, The most talented, and the Best Costume. At 14:00 there will be a ‘Papá Comelón’ contest. Register (for the contests?) on the social networks of ‘Expo Mujer.’ The event is free.

Titular –

Weather studies to determine the feasibility of new airport in the Tarqui valley will begin next month and be completed in two-and-a-half years, the Cuenca airport authority reports. (El Mercurio)

Micromovilidad, una asignatura pendiente (Micromobility, a pending issue) – Micromobility, which refers to modes of transportation that are small in size, weight, and speed, has been growing in Cuenca in recent years. These include scooters, skates, and both conventional and electric skateboards. The city is now confronting the lack of a specific ordinance regulating this type of transport. In 2020, during the pandemic, the Concejo Cantonal approved an ordinance to promote and strengthen active mobility which included bicycles and pedestrians. It is currently working on regulations which will combine micro and active mobility and which are being considered for presentation to the council at its next meeting.

The new ordinance addresses parameters for these modes of transportation to circulate, safety, and sanctions. Security measures include obligatory use of helmets, prohibiting use of sidewalks, and speed limits in bike lanes. If the gizmos go faster than bike lane limits, they would need to circulate in auto traffic lanes. Speed limits in general would be 35 km/hour in urban zones, and 45-55 km/hour in other areas. Infractions could be penalized with community service, fines, and/or confiscation of your gizmo. <It’s the shortest word I can think of to call these micromobility “vehicles.”> The gizmos themselves range from $400 in cost with a maximum speed of 25 km/hr and a battery range of 20 km up to others costing from $500-900 with a speed of up to 40 km/hr and a battery range fo 40-60 km. <I don’t want to imagine wiping out on a skateboard going 40 km/hr. Maybe the community service will be mopping blood and skin off cyclovías left by people who wiped out going over the speed limit. That might deter you from speeding.>

Cuenca –

Bajan plazos de estudios para el nuevo aeropuerto (Timelines for new airport studies reduced) – The airworthiness studies for a new airport in Cuenca will be ready in 2-1/2 years instead of the 5 or 6 years originally planned. The weather equipment that will take measurements that will determine if planes can land in the new airport and how the runway should be oriented has already been sent from Guayaquil to Cuenca to be installed in Tarqui in a month.

The weather station was used to determine the feasibility of the new Daular airport in Guayaquil and is being loaned to Cuenca for the same type of studies. For now the best location for the station is the Centro Agrícola, but the Instituto MITRE in Washington will determine the precise location in the next few days. The station will have a permanent guard. <I hope the guard will be armed and awake.> The labs of MITRO are the largest in the world for research and development in air control and airport systems. The Corporación Aeroportuaria de Cuenca (Corpac) is expecting to sign an agreement with MITRO to process the information received from the station.

The station has at least 7 sensors which will collect information about wind direction and gusts, the altitude of clouds, and the intensity of rains. The data collected will be sent to MITRE every month to be processed. The station will have a generator which will guarantee electrical supply so that information will not be lost. <That’s probably the main reason for the 24/7 guard — so no one steals the generator.>

Se tramitan los vuelos a Galápagos (Flights to Galapagos are in process) – After meetings with representatives from LATAM, Corpac and the City of Cuenca, it’s estimated that a Cuenca-Galápagos route could be realized in about 3 months. <I knew the universe would tell me when to finally visit the Galápagos.> Right now, government approvals from the Galápagos and the Consejo Nacional de Aviación Civil are needed. If those are granted, actions by the Cuenca airport are planned to ensure the migration process. José Luis Aguilar, the director of Corpac said it is possible that flights will stop in Quito or Guayaquil to take on more passengers. <I guess this might be different from the current Cuenca-Guayaquil or Quito-Galápagos route in that the layover would be shorter and without a plane change.>

De El Mercurio del sábado, 15/6 (1 article):
En orillas del río Tomebamba ejecutan obras de protección (Protection projects on the banks of the Tomebamba River) – The Dirección de Obras Públicas (Public Works Department) of Cuenca is doing channelling work on the banks of the Tomebamba River in zones prone to flooding. The city is building breakwater walls to prevent the river from overflowing the channel. Areas of work include at av. De Las Américas and in the coliseo Jefferson Pérez zone. There are at least 15 zones vulnerable to flooding from the 4 main rivers in Cuenca, mostly along the Tomebamba, but also along the Yanuncay where the sites most at risk are the Misicata Bridge, 3 Puentes, the U. de Azuay (UDA), and the Gapal sector where the ETAPA warehouses are located.

El mercado 4 de Noviembre fue inaugurado en Ricaurte (The November 4th market was inaugurated in Ricaurte) – The mercado 4 de Noviembre was opened ayer (domingo). It has 323 vendors of which 76 are agri-producers. The two story market will be open 7 days a week with all the usual food products, a prepared food section, and the rest of the stuff you need for daily life. <Cheap>

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper (please don’t ask her for them). If information is incorrect, it is the responsibility of El Mercurio. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.