Return to Another Garden

As I wrote previously, the Floating Garden of Tlallipan is a wonderful project, but I have my doubts as to whether or not it will be maintained.  It made me think about another linear park, the Ecoducto, which runs between the lanes of a busy freeway, the Miguel Alemán Viaduct.

A park in the middle of the freeway

The park follows the course of the Piedad River.  The river was polluted and a flood risk, so it was enclosed in pipes when the freeway was built in the 1950s.  The Ecoducto was opened in 2017 on top of the tubes which carry the river.  The recycled river water is used to irrigate the gardens of the park.  Even though the Ecoducto is a short walk from my apartment, I had not walked along it for quite a while.  Last week I decided to see how well it has been maintained over the years.

I walked a short distance up Insurgentes to the park entrance on the west side of the avenue. The park continues on the other side of Insurgentes, and its total length is almost a mile. 

Along the avenue is this new addition... a sculpture of a bicyclist created from plants.

 

The sign at the entrance, which explained the park, is defaced with graffiti and completely illegible.  Not a good first impression.  The letters above the frame say, "Un río pasa aquí." (A river runs here.)

This sign has also been defaced.  Ironically, it says, "Take care of your park".

I enter the park.

A group of city workers was tending to the gardens and sweeping the walkway.

The lady in the photo above has a regular broom, but most workers use brooms made from twigs tied to a pole.

The gardens on either side of the walkway were, for the most part, attractive and well-tended.

The freeway is now almost hidden from sight by the flowering vines that were planted by the fences on either side.

This bench with the initials used for Mexico City is looking rather shabby and is also marred with graffiti.

A gaping hole in the sidewalk

So, how would I rate the Ecoduct nine years after its opening?

I am happy to see that the plants are generally well cared for, and that the park is free of litter.  However, due to the ugly graffiti and some other defects, I would give it a grade of B-.