The Big Clash Over a Plan to ‘Fix’ Paseo de Montejo Design

The future of Paseo de Montejo’s controversial flower beds remains unclear as government officials, business leaders and cycling advocates debate what should happen to the concrete planters that have divided the community for weeks.

The flower beds, which eliminated a motor vehicle traffic lane to buffer a bike path from cars and trucks, have been divisive since the beginning. It’s easier to walk across the Paseo now, but the road is more cramped from behind the wheel.

José Enrique Molina Casares, president of Mérida’s Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism, said mobility can be improved on the historic boulevard without removing the medians that protect cyclists and pedestrians.

“Mobility can be rethought on Paseo de Montejo without affecting cyclists and pedestrians,” Molina Casares said.

His comments add a new voice to a heated debate about the flower beds installed in 2021. But even as various groups stake out positions, no one has presented a concrete plan for what comes next.

Alaine López Briceño, head of the state’s Infrastructure for Well-Being Ministry, said the government wants to redesign the spaces through data analysis. She made clear the bike lanes will remain.

“What we’re looking for is, through data analysis, to be able to redesign the spaces,” López Briceño said after a meeting with Fundación Paseo de Montejo representatives.

She said the goal is to recover a third traffic lane without eliminating cycling infrastructure. The ministry plans to present initial sketches and a participatory design methodology in the coming weeks, but hasn’t revealed specifics about how the flower beds would be modified.

The chamber met with state officials last week to discuss proposals for removing the planters from both lanes of the Paseo. The meetings included representatives from the Infrastructure for Well-Being Ministry, the Public Security Ministry and the Tourism Development Ministry.

The chamber stated it views efforts to restore the avenue’s splendor favorably but stressed that any changes need technical planning and citizen input without creating disproportionate harm to formal businesses.

The group wants to participate in technical committees that develop solutions for a Paseo de Montejo that is “more orderly, accessible and worthy of Yucatecan pride,” according to the chamber’s statement.

The controversy exploded in late October when mysterious red crosses and markings appeared on several flower beds, raising alarm that removal work had begun without public notice. No government agency has explained the marks.

Days later, cyclists and pedestrians staged a creative protest. On Nov. 1 — Halloween night in Mexico — demonstrators dressed as bike lanes, bollards and flower beds rode their bikes along the Paseo under the slogan “Las jardineras se quedan” (The flower beds stay).

Everardo Flores, president of Cicloturixes, led the demonstration and warned the group would defend the infrastructure through legal channels. He said the organization had already requested a meeting with the governor to discuss mobility rights.

The cycling group argued the planters aren’t decorative but essential safety devices. They said removing them would violate Mexico’s constitution and the General Law on Mobility and Road Safety, which requires authorities to prioritize pedestrians and cyclists over private vehicles.

“Removing the flower beds that protect the bike lanes would be illegal and would violate the Constitution,” Flores said.

The fight began in October when Jorge Carrillo Sáenz, president of both the Tourism Business Council and the Paseo de Montejo Foundation, met with Gov. Joaquín Díaz Mena with three proposals: remove the flower beds from both lanes, reactivate the dormant State Traffic Council, and design a comprehensive project to restore the avenue as Yucatán’s Champs-Élysées.

“The medians make circulation complicated because they reduce traffic lanes,” Carrillo Sáenz said.

He argued the medians create gridlock, force tour buses to avoid the avenue entirely and cause drivers to scrape their tires on the structures at roundabouts. Carrillo Sáenz said the tourism sector’s proposal calls for broad public participation from urban planning specialists, academics, environmentalists, merchants, civil associations, tourism operators, hotel owners, cyclists, pedestrians and federal and municipal governments.

But Mérida’s city government has complained it’s being excluded from the planning process. City councilor Asís Cano Cetina stated that the state’s mobility institute had invited only a Morena party representative to a November 6 planning session, not Mayor Cecilia Patrón Laviada.

“In the particular case of the topic discussed in recent days about the redesign of the flower beds that the state government intends to carry out on Paseo de Montejo, the mayor has been very clear in her position that any project of this type must start with a consultation that includes the voices of everyone, starting with the citizens who use this road,” Cano Cetina said.

The 1.6-kilometer (1-mile) Paseo de Montejo stretches from the Remate downtown to the Monumento a la Patria. The tree-lined boulevard modeled after French avenues features mansions built by wealthy families during the 19th-century henequen boom. Many now house museums, hotels, restaurants and offices.

Vehicle registrations in Yucatán grew from 1,034,153 to 1,102,172 between June 2023 and June 2024. Drivers on the Paseo often wait through three or four traffic light cycles at each roundabout just to move from one monument to the next.

Research from the Federal Highway Administration shows median barriers reduce pedestrian crossing distances and help separate vulnerable road users from vehicle traffic. Studies in multiple U.S. cities found protected bike infrastructure can cut crashes for all road users by 40% to 50%.

Cicloturixes noted that Paseo de Montejo was recognized in 2023 as one of 11 complete streets in Mexico because it integrates pedestrian, cyclist and motorized traffic. The group threatened to seek a court injunction if removal work begins.

“If we allow them to remove these flower beds, we’ll be giving them a blank check to eliminate all pedestrian and cycling infrastructure,” Flores said. “We cannot go backward.”

López Briceño said consultation meetings aim to identify common ground and define modifications that benefit all Paseo de Montejo users, including pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and merchants. The state has met with the Fundación Paseo de Montejo, UADY academics, Canaco Servytur and federal urban development officials.

The business chamber’s proposal for middle-ground solutions may offer a path forward. What remains unclear is exactly how the state plans to widen traffic lanes while keeping the bike paths and maintaining pedestrian safety features that mobility advocates consider essential.

The standoff shows no signs of ending soon, with competing visions for whether Mérida’s most famous street should prioritize cars or the pedestrians and cyclists who have increasingly claimed space on the historic boulevard.

Flower Bed Controversy at a Glance

• Concrete medians with planters installed on both Paseo de Montejo lanes in 2021
• Tourism sector wants them completely removed to ease congestion
• State government says bike lanes will stay but flower beds may be redesigned
• Nov. 1 protest featured demonstrators dressed as bike infrastructure
• Cicloturixes threatens legal action if removal work begins
• No specific redesign plan has been announced yet