Tram makes some El Centro streets pedestrian-only
The Cuenca transportation office has designated six historic district streets as pedestrian-only, saying they are too narrow to accommodate the tram, vehicular traffic and pedestrians. Once the tram begins operation, officials
say they could eliminate traffic on other streets tram route streets, depending on traffic flow issues.
Tram work on Gran Colombia
Areas to be closed to cars and trucks are, on Gran Colombia, from Octavio Cordero to Miguel Heredia and from Miguel Vélez to Coronel Talbot; on Mariscal Lamar, from Hermano Miguel to Mariano Cueva, and from Tarqui to Estévez de Toral. In addition, Mariano Cueva will become pedestrian-only from Gaspar Sangurima to Mariscal Lamar at Civic Plaza, where the east-bound tram track switches from Lamar to Sangarima. On Sangurima, the block from Mariano Cueva to Vargas Machuca will also become pedestrian-only.
Cuenca’s biggest holiday crafts fair goes international
A holiday crafts tents on the Rio Tomebamba.
More than 140 artisans from Ecuador and 10 Latin American countries will display and sell their work along the banks of the Tomebamba River during Cuenca’s independence holidays. The sponsor of the event, the Inter-American Center of Crafts and Popular Arts (CIDAP), says this year’s displays will be the most impressive in the fair’s 16 year history.
In addition to the artisan tents by the river, other artists will display in the CIDAP courtyard on Paseo Tres de Noviembre at the Calle Hermano Miguel escalinata. In addition to artisans from as far away as Chile, this year’s fair will again include entries from all of Ecuador’s indigenous and ethnic communities, including the Shuar, Amazonian Kichwas, the Andean Panzaleos, and the African-Ecuadorians from the Chota Valley. The fair begins Thursday, November 1 and continues through Sunday, November 4.
