New tope in the village to watch out for

Taken from the 'Gringos Ajijic' Facebook page.....

¡Buenas tardes!. I wanted to pass on an FYI. Today my husband and I drove down 16 septembre (west) and we're turning left on nicolas bravo to park by the lake. As we were about to turn (thank God we were creeping along), we felt the bottom of our car scrape something. Gary backed up and there is a brand new tope! It makes the ones around Jocotopec look small. Please pass on. Not many cars are going to get over THAT!!

You are a good neighbor!
It appears there is not much quality control or planning on height of the topes. Are the other topes very consistent. I am hoping my Honda FIT is high enough to clear them. I know you should drive slow in the cobblestone streets. From my visit to Lake Chapala in 2011 I do remember small cars are better for the narrow streets. BB

HAHAHA Tope Quality Control! I want that job!

So, I guess they failed to notice the tope prior to bottoming out . . .

They are actually not intended to be topes. I believe they were put there to direct the rain run off from creating a big pool between Miguel Bianco and Nicolas Bravo. That is why they are angled with a big gap at the end. I suspect this may have been done "privately" and yes they are too high. File your complaints with the delegado.

Our Honda FIT bottomed out on that the first time, so on the next trip, esposo came to a full stop and tried creeping over it.  NOPE. Scraped again. Until and if this is fixed, we need to go home by an alternate route. Beware !

gringal wrote:Our Honda FIT bottomed out on that the first time, so on the next trip, esposo came to a full stop and tried creeping over it.  NOPE. Scraped again. Until and if this is fixed, we need to go home by an alternate route.  Beware !

Thanks, At least I know I have an unfit FIT for this.

BILLBOGEY wrote:

gringal wrote:Our Honda FIT bottomed out on that the first time, so on the next trip, esposo came to a full stop and tried creeping over it.  NOPE. Scraped again. Until and if this is fixed, we need to go home by an alternate route.  Beware !

Thanks, At least I know I have an unfit FIT for this.

Your FIT is probably fit for all other local topes, Bill. This one is just not right. You just SLOOOOW down and take them easy. Otherwise, small cars are perfect for our narrow streets and tough to find parking spots. We bought ours new here in 2010 and love it. I've heard it has a tiny bit more clearance than the U.S. made ones. Maybe so.

CanuckBob wrote:They are actually not intended to be topes. I believe they were put there to direct the rain run off from creating a big pool between Miguel Bianco and Nicolas Bravo. That is why they are angled with a big gap at the end. I suspect this may have been done "privately" and yes they are too high. File your complaints with the delegado.

Probably put in by the same folks with painted and now cemented rocks to block parking - also with chains in front of their doors at curbside.

Yep that's my thinking too. The muni removed those rocks. Talk about self centered people eh. They didnt want anyone parking in front of their house and now the water is going to flood someone else out. With enough complaints they will tear out those humps too. Hopefully they will also get fined. I'm going to take pictures to the Delegado tomorrow. Hopefully some other residents will also complain.

Nope Fits hit this one. Angle, slow, whatever, it hits.

As far as the rocks cemented they were across the street from the Telephone pole if that makes more sense for you. Good people actually. Now you are going to be stuck behind some truck because someone parked badly across from the telephone pole. Not sure the rock people are the topes people to be fair.

CanuckBob wrote:Yep that's my thinking too. The muni removed those rocks. Talk about self centered people eh. They didnt want anyone parking in front of their house and now the water is going to flood someone else out. With enough complaints they will tear out those humps too. Hopefully they will also get fined. I'm going to take pictures to the Delegado tomorrow. Hopefully some other residents will also complain.

Good for you, Cbob. I hope it does some good. Post what they tell you.

Zedinmexico wrote:Nope Fits hit this one. Angle, slow, whatever, it hits.  

As far as the rocks cemented they were across the street from the Telephone pole if that makes more sense for you.  Good people actually.  Now you are going to be stuck behind some truck because someone parked badly across from the telephone pole. Not sure the rock people are the topes people to be fair.

Nope, they originally had those rocks all along the block. After they were removed they put poles in front of their doors. Took away parking spots on an already parking challenged street. There are problems with trucks, parking and all the poles along this street. We could probably get the poles removed too. Ask them if they had anything to do with those humps and if so let them know they have pissed off a lot of people. Someone did it.

I just read this post on TOB.....

"I visited the Delagado's office after my car scraped over this huge concrete tope..I was told that SIMAPA put it there so that when it rains, the water will flow down Nicolas Bravo, instead of 16 de Septiembre. I told them that many cars are getting scraped going over it because it's TOO HIGH and showed him photos I had taken to prove it. Rafael was in the office and he phoned Chuni while I was there. I was told that 1-2 inches would be removed off the top. If it isn't removed in the next few days I personally will be looking to borrow a sledge hammer."

The one on Miguel Blanco is going to direct the water right through that blue gate across the street when the big rains hit and who cares if it goes down Septiembre anyways. Its worked for the last 100 years. They should regrade a slope in that part versus those stupid curbs. Pure genius.

CanuckBob wrote:

Zedinmexico wrote:Nope Fits hit this one. Angle, slow, whatever, it hits.  

As far as the rocks cemented they were across the street from the Telephone pole if that makes more sense for you.  Good people actually.  Now you are going to be stuck behind some truck because someone parked badly across from the telephone pole. Not sure the rock people are the topes people to be fair.

Nope, they originally had those rocks all along the block. After they were removed they put poles in front of their doors. Took away parking spots on an already parking challenged street. There are problems with trucks, parking and all the poles along this street. We could probably get the poles removed too. Ask them if they had anything to do with those humps and if so let them know they have pissed off a lot of people. Someone did it.

It was the water company that did the Tope not locals according to the other board. Someone asked the village and was given that info. Two inches are suppose to come off the topes soon. I just saw the rocks across the street from the Telephone pole. I never saw all the rocks you mentioned I guess. Yes it would be nice if the two poles within a block of each other could be moved as they cause 50% of all the problems on that street. Some of the houses doors open out (the pink house) and you can't get out when they park on the sidewalk.When I lived in the pink house I had to walk over a car once or twice to get out. I say put rocks across from both poles and give up the two spaces. I can't imagine how many time the blind drivers park across from these poles two feet from the curb with a big fat SUV and get mad when I point out that a normal truck cannot pass. Its a sport taking off mirrors for the trucks drivers.

Z

I doubt Simapa cared that there were puddles on Septiembre between Miguel Blanco and Nicolas Bravo after a rain. Someone has directed them. It certainly wasn't the correct solution. It is just going to create other problems. Wait for the next big rain....

CanuckBob wrote:I doubt Simapa cared that there were puddles on Septiembre between Miguel Blanco and Nicolas Bravo after a rain. Someone has directed them. It certainly wasn't the correct solution. It is just going to create other problems. Wait for the next big rain....

Nobody I knew knows anything. I do remember the water company digging the dirt out of the street toward the east and hauling it away. I asked them who they were and they said the water company. So wonder who/what is driving this attention CB? Its more than two topes.

Well I would wager that one of the residents along that stretch complained and that was Simapa's solution (or their suggestion). Build diversion dykes in the middle of the street.........jaja jaja. Maybe it will backfire and the water will run over those dykes and trap the water so they have a private lake (or dengue breeding ground)?

That block has been a drainage disaster since I moved here in 2008, and likely much longer than that. Maybe while they're poking around at bad solutions, something that works for everyone will be found. If you care that much or live nearby, stay on it! Otherwise.......

That section of the road must have a dip in it. Simply regrade that section with a slight slope to Nicolas Bravo and problem solved. What they did is ridiculous.

Especially when they spent two days shoveling dirt out of the road only to have the piles of dirt come right back over the next year. We have seen it before. Getting the two poles moved away from street would be more useful in my opinion.

As you can see after this mornings very minor rain these "dykes" had zero effect. The one dyke on Nicolas Bravo actually trapped the runoff on the wrong side.

And in the second picture you can see where the residents put in a planter and extended the curb out a foot so no one can park in front of their place. There is no pole directly across.

Thanks for the graphic illustrations of what's wrong there.

And the solution couldn't be simpler. Fix all the dips, ruts and potholes in that section. I will take my pictures and solution to the Delegado.