The heavy equipment is gone, and so are the power lines. In its place, café seating and bricked passageways mark the arrival of Mérida’s Corredor Gastronómico — the Gastronomic Corridor.
Until construction began in 2022, Calle 47 between the Remate and La Plancha was a quiet and unremarkable street. It was a mix of businesses and private residences, with a slow but steady influx of restaurants for the last 10 years.
Now, it’s a restaurant-row attraction. Facing federal restrictions, the city did not plant trees along the sidewalks, but 72 giant flower pots and 16 rectangular planters came in Wednesday along with all-new, generously proportioned pedestrian paths lined with 19 cement benches. The private company Creando Ambientes will maintain the flowers that are already in soil.
The city created the corridor to link the Paseo de Montejo with La Plancha, the once-abandoned rail yard on its way to being a Central Park for Mérida. Trees were recently planted there as well, although the larger ones are still just the trunks waiting to take root.
The park’s entrance is practically an extension of Calle 47, lead directly across Calle 48. Although La Plancha is unfinished, walls and barriers are down and pedestrians are able to explore.
Diario de Yucatán compares the project to Fifth Avenue in Playa del Carmen and the Tulum tourist corridor.
The mayor and governor will inaugurate the space at 6 p.m. today (Friday) with a 1.25-mile-long block party. Expect food tastings, set to music with dancing, into the night.
A major initiative from Mayor Barrera Concha’s administration, about MX$78 million was spent to beautify the street.
The corridor project incentivized the state government to renew Calle 60 at the 47 intersection and south toward the Plaza Grande. That MX$174.3 million project is due for completion in December.
