Santo Domingo.- With a new vision of rescuing and renovating Paris Street and Juan Pablo Duarte Avenue and its surroundings, the Presidency of the Republic and the Mayor’s Office of the National District (ADN) join forces in the great project “Paris and its surroundings”, with which will achieve the urban, social and economic transformation of one of the areas with the greatest commercial impact and concurrence of people in the city and in the country.
This Friday, the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, and the Mayor of the National District, Carolina Mejía, began this project that consists of a set of interventions in the areas that comprise C/París, Av. Juan Pablo Duarte and its surroundings, which will restore splendor and order to this iconic area of the capital city, generating a transcendental change and taking from a negative extreme to a positive one a story that for decades has been synonymous with chaos, slums, insecurity and overcrowding.
“Paris and its Surroundings” will provide a more enjoyable city experience and bring about a momentous life change for merchants, business owners, visitors and residents of this area.
It consists of a sequence of interventions of an urban nature in several streets and intersections of the Villa Francisca sector, as well as the establishment of an operational mechanism in terms of urban cleanliness, adequate use of public space and citizen security, which is sustainable in the future. time and allows order to be guaranteed to the chaos generated by the dynamism of commercial activities that converge with traffic.
It will have an Administrative and Management Office, which will house the areas designated for maintenance, monitoring and sustainability of the project. There will operate: Urban Cleaning (60 workers, 10 inspectors, drivers and 1 general supervisor); Public Spaces (25 inspectors and brigade coordinators); Municipal Police (97 municipal police and 3 officers); Collection staff.
“Paris and its surroundings” will mark a before and after in the lives of the citizens of the National District, extending to all Dominicans and generating a positive and decisive impact for the capital and for the country. In addition, it pays tribute to the Dominican woman and her leading role in the development and commercial stimulation in this area.
In that sense, this project will feature murals with the faces of emblematic women in the section of Avenida 27 fe Febrero that adjoins Duarte, which will beautify and give color to the place. The women highlighted for their valuable contributions to Dominican society are: Salomé Ureña, María Trinidad Sánchez, Juana Saltitopa, Ercilia Pepín, Trina Moya de Vásquez, María Montés, Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal, Mamá Tingó, Aniana Ondina Vargas, María Concepción Bona, Manuela Díez, María Baltasara de los Reyes, Josefa Brea, Filomena Gómez de Cova, Ana Valverde and Rosa Duarte.
President Luis Abinader highlighted in his speech that the times of chaos, suburbanization, insecurity and overcrowding must be left behind.
“New cities demand new solutions. And that is what we are doing in Santo Domingo and throughout the country. I have always maintained that change is only real if it is measurable, if it takes the form of actions, if it impacts people’s lives. Create a geography of opportunities, with plans, investments and institutional support. That is the government’s roadmap. And it is the route that Paris Street and its surroundings now take,” said the president.
For her part, Mayor Carolina Mejía said that this project represents a profit for the street vendors, the pedestrians, the families of the street vendors who depend on informal trade also earn.
“It has been a desire of the people of the capital for decades to cross these streets and find order, security, feel cleanliness and live with decent spaces. This dream is not ours, this is a collective city dream because people want to have a better quality of life and that is why it is essential to do it in order, with cleanliness and with rules…and that is what we are doing, ordering Santo Domingo, the great house for everyone,” said Mejía.
The president and the mayor highlighted the active participation and expressed their gratitude to the peddlers, merchants and neighborhood associations for the full support provided to make this project a reality.
Project “Paris and its surroundings”
The project consists of two stages (3 and 4) that consist of the continuation of the one initiated by the previous mayor of the National District and current Minister of Tourism, David Collado.
Stages 2 and 3, led by the current administration of the mayor’s office, are part of the execution of this agreement and the support received by the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader. It will have an approximate investment of 440 million pesos and is scheduled to end in the first quarter of 2023.
In Stage 2, “Paseo de la París”, C/París will be intervened, dividing it into 2 phases: Phase 1, section from C/Abreu to C/Jacinto de la Concha; Phase 2, section from C/José Martí to C/Josefa Brea.
In Stage 3, the so-called walks of the Duarte, Music and Reading will be intervened. This stage is also divided into 2 execution phases: Phase 1, “Paseo de la Duarte” on Av. Juan Pablo Duarte, comprising the section from C/París to Av. México; Phase 2, “Paseo de la Música” in C/Caracas, including the section from C/Jacinto de la Concha to Av. Juan Pablo Duarte and finally the “Paseo de la Lectura” in C/Caracas, including the section from Av. Juan Pablo Duarte to C/José Martí.
With the purpose of organizing, modernizing and definitively changing the image of these areas, during Stage 3 the modules and sales stations that are currently located in these sections will be replaced, in accordance with the modules and stations of Stage 2 .
For day-to-day operations, equipment and tools will be available for this project: 5 vans that will work for the administration, Public Spaces and the Municipal Police; 24 motorcycles for constant supervision of the area; 1 waste collection truck; 2 dump trucks and 1 long bed truck for the care of public spaces and solid waste collection; 2 vehicles that will have 2 large pressure washers to keep the area safe.
“Paris and its surroundings” will go from being a reference to chaos to an example of order and of what a city with an organized and safe commercial activity can be, becoming a pilot project that can be applied to other geographical areas of the country .
