SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — About four blocks along Tijuana’s famous Avenida Revolución are now closed to vehicle traffic as the city tries to make the area more appealing to visitors and locals as well.
A recent survey found 80% of merchants were in favor of making the area more pedestrian friendly.
“This will greatly help businesses in the downtown area,” said Carlos Robles Literas, president of the Avenida Revolución Business Association. “Unfortunately, 20 percent of our membership disagrees with the move.”
Last month, the city decided to close the street from Fourth to Seventh avenues, adding a carousel, and a new sign welcoming people to the historic center of Tijuana.
Robles Literas believes this will draw hundreds of tourists and locals to the area on a daily basis.
He also admits there are still many doubters afraid of stopping the traffic flow while minimizing access to the area.
“There were many restaurants, microbreweries, cafeterias and shops against the move, but they are actually seeing sales have increased by 30 percent.”
Robles Literas said another concern many people share is that street vendors are going to move into the area taking business away from restaurants and other establishments, but he stated it has not happened.
“We have not seen vendors setting up shop in the area as we feared, it’s being watched, we are actually seeing less of them, the police department has deployed six additional officers per block to patrol the area and crack down on illegal vendors.”
Robles Literas added that they now have about 100 officers policing the area at one time.
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