Sancti Spíritus Boulevard: Highway, racetrack, or pasture? (+ photos)
Yleana González’s concern is shared by many residents of Sancti Spíritus. Highway, two way street, racetrack, or pasture the Sancti Spíritus city boulevard has turned into any one of these things.
For those of us living on nearby streets or passing through, it is hard to tell if the boulevard is a two-way thoroughfare—much like the notorious “Boquete del Coco”—because motorcycles zoom by at high speeds in either direction. With no sidewalks or signage of any kind, you never know which way traffic will go—right or left, south or north—since at any time of day, the place resembles a two-way road or a motorcycle racetrack.
Any passerby can witness this firsthand on what was originally conceived as the city’s main artery—a cultural and even historical hub for the Yayabo region.
For some time now, this pedestrian walkway no longer seems to serve its original purpose: motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, and even carts travel through it at all hours. They not only obstruct the natural flow of pedestrians—who used to stroll without a care but now fear being run over—but also trample the very essence of civility, social harmony, and culture.
They race up and down, cutting past the Main Church to reach Céspedes Street or traversing the entire boulevard; they enter from La Colonia and head toward Serafín Sánchez Park. Just the other day, they nearly ran me over, as well as some young girls who were roller-skating there—and as far as I know, this city’s boulevard is not open to vehicle traffic, the listener confirms.
Reckless drivers tend to follow the law of the jungle, entering and exiting this thoroughfare as if it were an open pasture. They park along the edges or even in the middle—whether in front of the local eateries or by one of the many service establishments lining the street. They drive in and out via side streets, behaving as if in a state of lawlessness.
More than once, I wondered if this chaos signaled a normalization of disorder, or if the boulevard had simply ceased to be a pedestrian zone without anyone realizing it. I even checked to see if the signage regulating the area’s usage had been removed.
But no. Even though it is partially hidden by tree branches—and despite being written in capital letters—the sign remains there as a monument to impunity and public disregard for the rules: PEDESTRIANS WITH BICYCLES PROHIBITED.
It is all the more disheartening to see such a lack of civic responsibility and disregard for basic rules of conduct occurring right under the noses of the very institutions charged with upholding the law—such as the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power itself, located in the heart of the boulevard, which has effectively turned into a highway, a racetrack, or a pasture.
As concerned residents of Sancti Spíritus point out, it seems that the law enforcement officers usually stationed along that thoroughfare do not consider it part of their duty to prevent violations of this basic traffic rule.
As a listener noted some time ago, pedestrians used to have to carry their bicycles, as walking them through the area was not permitted, and anyone who broke the rule faced a fine.
“At any moment, someone is going to get run over, and it is only after the fact that the regrets set in,” the listener warns.
I do not believe, as the listener suggests, that we need to wait for a fatal outcome to occur. Enforcing the law is all that is required for the Sancti Spíritus boulevard to regain the tranquility and splendor it once enjoyed as a distinguished cultural hub, and to prevent it from turning permanently into a highway, a racetrack, or a pasture.
