Torreón, the city that doesn't want to pedal: unmet goals and forgotten bike lanes

Despite laws, plans, and assessments that highlight the importance and necessity of non-motorized transportation, the reality in Torreón is a shortage of bike lane kilometers and the abandonment of sections of the existing infrastructure, relegating cyclists to the role of "intruders" in a road space dominated by private vehicles.

Citizens, through working groups, have identified the issue of the bike path network as one of their priorities. The projects and needs are on paper, but this has not translated into more and better cycling infrastructure, as Semanario was able to corroborate in this investigation.

Currently, Torreón's cycling infrastructure extends to nearly 53 kilometers, according to Carla Tovar, director of Sustainable Urban Planning at the Municipal Planning Institute (IMPLAN), although the Public Works Department identifies 45.6 kilometers, according to a response to a request for information.

Any of these figures fall far short of recommendations such as those of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) or the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), which recommend bicycle lane coverage every 500 meters. Above all, the current infrastructure falls short of these same planning goals.

Carla Tovar points out that, according to IMPLAN, the long-term goal for the complete network is 290 kilometers , a network that can connect the most important points with residential areas.

The Urban Development Master Plan (PDDU) envisioned a cycling infrastructure network to be implemented in stages, reaching 418 linear kilometers of cycling infrastructure distributed across 64 short-, medium-, and long-term projects.

In the short term, it was estimated that by 2025, 16 bike lanes would have been built, totaling 97.78 kilometers. Among the proposed projects were a bike lane on the Salvador Creel Causeway from Constitución Boulevard to Puente Guadalupe Victoria, on Bravo Avenue from Diagonal Reforma to Torreón 2000, on the Juambelz Causeway from Revolución to Bravo, and on Juárez Avenue from Cuauhtémoc to Xochimilco, among others.

However, the projects, which would have represented an investment of 64.8 million pesos, have not been implemented, and it has been confirmed that the city is short of the 53 kilometers of bike lanes that were projected as a goal for this year, confirms Carla Tovar. In other words, just to achieve the short-term goal already set, the existing infrastructure would have to be doubled.

The latest infrastructure investment of this type was the 400-meter Matamoros corridor. Aside from this project, not a single peso has been invested in bike lanes since 2021, according to a response from the Public Works Department to a request for information.

The Director of Sustainable Urban Planning emphasizes that, given the city's growth, especially in the northern part, one-way bike lanes should be integrated into the road sections of new constructions; however, only about 16 to 17 km of this type of one-way bike lane exist.

DETERIORATION OF THE EXISTING NETWORK

The problem in Torreón is not limited to the number of kilometers, but also to the quality and safety of the infrastructure already installed.

Pedro Belmonte Márquez, director of the civil association Ecociclismo, describes the situation as "very unsafe" due to the lack of civic awareness and protection for cyclists. Belmonte explains that the bike paths, although they exist, are in a state of disrepair: "They are not maintained." The neglect is widespread, with paths filled with glass, barbed wire, and thorns, which causes frequent bicycle punctures and forces users to leave the supposedly protected path, he comments.

For Eduardo Rentería, founder of the Ruedas del Desierto collective, there are well-designed bike lanes, such as the 2.5-kilometer Colón cycle path, which Mayor Román Alberto Cepeda once declared he wanted to modify. Rentería highlights others, such as the bike lane on the Santa Fe Highway or the one in front of the airport.

He mentions that there are sections of Juan Pablo II Highway that are neglected, the Colón bike path itself lacks maintenance, and the Mieleras Boulevard bike path also lacks maintenance because he says there are too many "bulls" that cause tire punctures.

In a tour of various bike paths in the city conducted by Semanario, it was observed that in some sections the pavement is deteriorated. On bike paths where the only separation is the paint, it is barely distinguishable, or there are sections where weeds from vacant lots invade the lanes.

The main problem, says Rentería, is the lack of a network of connected bike paths and the lack of respect for their use, an issue also identified by the Active Mobility Plan:

“Cycling infrastructure is disconnected and dispersed. The diversity of its types does not encourage safe cycling.”

The Torreón PDDU also confirmed that sections of cycling infrastructure are "disconnected and dispersed," and that some are neglected, with deteriorating horizontal signage or a lack of signage, making them "unsafe sections for users."

An example of this risk situation is the bike lane on Diagonal Reforma, which Carla Tovar, director of Sustainable Urban Planning at IMPLAN, says they had to stop counting because "it really wasn't a bike lane that offered safety to cyclists."

"It was always operated as a shared lane, but now, if you're traveling on Diagonal Reforma, that lane no longer exists. So, there's a need to monitor it."

Furthermore, it highlights the importance of creating continuous routes, such as the completion of the Constitución bike path, which began more than a decade ago, or integrating a bike path into one of the most needed routes along Independencia and Abastos.

"Those are really the areas with the most cyclists. What we're looking for is to be able to complement them so we can build the network," says Carla Tovar.

Tovar acknowledges that most cycling infrastructure requires maintenance. Since 2020, the Torreón government has only allocated 6.5 million pesos for infrastructure maintenance, according to a response to a request for information.

THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT FAILS TO PROTECT

The poor condition of these roads has a direct impact on road safety. In 2020, 246 cyclists and pedestrians were hit by collisions in urban areas, according to data from the Urban Development Master Plan.

The most critical accident hotspots are located on the city's main thoroughfares, such as Revolución Boulevard, the Torreón-Matamoros Highway, Diagonal Reforma Boulevard, and the Raúl López Sánchez Ring Road, according to data from the Master Plan. The Plan itself indicates that these arteries, despite the presence of pedestrian bridges, continue to experience a high number of accidents, "demonstrating that this infrastructure does not solve the safety problem for cyclists and pedestrians."

According to INEGI data, there were 143 collisions with cyclists and 298 pedestrian accidents in Coahuila in 2024. Torreón leads the accident rate: 72 collisions with cyclists and 109 pedestrian accidents occurred in this city.

Furthermore, new roadworks tend to focus on vehicles, inhibiting bicycle use. According to Pedro Belmonte, public works managers "only think about cars."

Furthermore, the PDDU emphasizes that the city's road culture has a "strong automotive perspective in which the private vehicle is the protagonist, relegating non-motorized modes."

Since 1970, the urban sprawl has tripled in size, growing sevenfold, while its population has only increased threefold. This dispersion, which goes against the UN-Habitat recommendation of maintaining a "one-to-one" growth ratio, results in longer commutes, making private vehicles the preferred option.

"This is infrastructure that primarily serves automobile travel. We need to think about comprehensive solutions. If we're going to invest in these types of projects, how can we also encourage people who travel, whether on foot or by bicycle, to navigate these roads safely?" explains Carla Tovar of IMPLAN.

Eduardo Rentería, founder of Ruedas del Desierto, says that during Román Cepeda's previous municipal administration, they proposed a bike lane on Independencia Boulevard, one of the city's busiest streets. The group sampled the number of cyclists using the boulevard. "There are a lot of cyclists both in the morning and in the afternoon," Rentería emphasizes. However, the authorities only received the proposal, but it never resulted in any work. "It was just the acknowledgement, no work," he laments.

Independencia Boulevard, on the other hand, represents the antithesis of mobility inclusion. The Cuatro Caminos underpass, the major project of Miguel Riquelme's administration that cost more than 500 million pesos, completely excluded pedestrians and cyclists and has become a road project that symbolizes the privilege of cars.

“It is designed for a single mode of transport: the automobile,” says Eduardo Rentería.

One of the main problems is the increasing use of both private cars and motorcycles. Torreón accounts for almost 50% of the motor vehicles registered in the entire La Laguna Metropolitan Area. According to the Municipality's Urban Development Master Plan, from 2015 to 2020 the vehicle fleet increased from 210 to 286 cars per thousand inhabitants. At the metropolitan level, from 2014 to 2024, the number of vehicles grew by 94%, while the population grew by 12% during the same period, according to data compiled by the La Laguna Observatory. There are more than 640,000 motor vehicles in La Laguna.

According to INEGI data revealed in a note by Alonso Flores in Vanguardia , Saltillo and Torreón are among the municipalities in the country with the greatest increase in automobiles between 2020 and 2024.

During that period, Torreón specifically increased its number of vehicles from 206,414 to 272,735, representing a growth rate of 32.13 percent, the highest in the country.

Pedro Belmonte, a director of Ecociclismo, is convinced that those responsible for public works are not considering all road entities.

“We go through there (Cuatro Caminos overpass) when we're a group of 30 or 40 cyclists, with a pickup truck behind us looking after us. And it's at night, so there's not as much traffic. But for a single cyclist going to work or school, you get in there, you don't get out. It's very dangerous,” Belmonte criticized.

Pedro Belmonte explains that a city's road infrastructure grows when it considers all the entities that circulate on the roads: pedestrians, cyclists, motorcycles, cars, passenger transport trucks, school buses...

“They inaugurated a bike path from Soriana Verde to La Partida, which passes through the Ana neighborhood. It's good, but cyclists should be required to use it, yet there's no authority to protect it or prevent cars from invading it. Cyclists leave because there are always cars. It's neglected,” Belmonte points out.

Even the current construction of the Independencia and Abastos interchanges, harshly criticized for the felling of trees in the central median, also includes the construction of an overpass, with no information available regarding the inclusion of any non-motorized transportation.

Another example is the Periférico. The Urban Development Master Plan includes a bike lane on this road, which in recent years has become just another boulevard, with serious traffic problems at various points. However, due to safety concerns, it was decided not to maintain a bike lane project in this area, says Carla Tovar. For the Director of Sustainable Urban Planning, one of the bike lanes that is important to expand and maintain is the bike lane leading to Mieleras, which Pedro Belmonte describes as "abandoned."

For the Ecociclismo director, a necessary project is a bike path connecting Calzada Colón and Boulevard Revolución to reach Ciudad Universitaria and the municipality of Matamoros. "It crosses many universities; a lot of traffic due to the construction work would be a real treat," he says.

PAPER LAWS

The use of bicycles or sustainable mobility has known benefits that are established and recognized in various documents, laws, and regulations, but which have remained on paper.

There is a General Law on Mobility and Road Safety in the country, which, like many other international instruments, places pedestrians, then cyclists or users of non-motorized vehicles, at the top of the mobility hierarchy.

In Coahuila, there is a Sustainable Transportation and Mobility Law , which, according to Eduardo Rentería of Ruedas del Desierto, is not aligned with national law. This law establishes the obligation of municipalities to develop sustainable mobility programs. Article 196 recognizes the rights of cyclists in the state, including the right to access to inclusive, direct, safe, coherent, comfortable, and attractive infrastructure, as well as services that allow them to make transfers.

Article 201 recognizes and protects the human right to use the bicycle as an alternative means of transportation, as well as the importance of bicycle culture and its socialization. Article 208 establishes the obligation of municipal governments to include bicycles in their transportation and land use plans, to promote bicycle use as a means of transportation in coordination with private initiatives, and to ensure citizen participation in bicycle promotion policies, among other things.

All of this remains on paper. Eduardo Rentería says that justification based on the law is required so that governments can carry out projects in compliance with the law.

Architect José Antonio Ramírez Reyes, a member of the La Laguna Urban Laboratory, adds that the La Laguna Interstate Metropolitan Zone Planning Program (POZMIL) 2023-2040 was created in 2024. This is an interstate strategic plan to guide the region's urban, social, and economic development, with the goal of achieving orderly and sustainable growth.

Ramírez Reyes says it is a binding instrument that requires the five metropolitan municipalities to follow various strategies, including mobility strategies; however, he acknowledges that it is absent from all metropolitan programs.

"It's still outside the discourse of municipal governments; it's not included in state policies. We need to reflect on whether we want to solve or prevent urban crises; we need a metropolitan governance approach," says Ramírez Reyes.

He emphasizes that the program needs to be pushed forward because La Laguna has a privileged position in terms of security, but it also needs to be extended to other issues such as mobility, he points out.

"Let's not let this turn into a crisis. The government is responsible. But we need to put pressure on it, we need to put pressure on it to make it happen."

However, while there is a backlog in Torreón, in municipalities in the area such as Gómez Palacio and Lerdo, infrastructure is nonexistent, says Eduardo Rentería.

Mobility data confirm this trend: 52% of the working population commutes to work by private vehicle, while only 7.62% do so by bicycle . To attend school, the use of private vehicles rises to 37.41%, while cycling barely reaches 1.21%.

According to Carla Tovar of IMPLAN, if we look at the mobility of people by income, up to 20 percent of those with incomes between one and two minimum wages travel by bicycle.

"We have a significant flow, especially those moving to these work hubs, such as industrial zones, and that's precisely where the importance lies," he comments.

At the metropolitan level, 9% of people use bicycles as a means of transportation to get to work. Pedro Belmonte of Ecociclismo points out that, for a student or worker, commuting by public transport is expensive. Derived from urban mobility in Torreón, 20.44% of monthly household spending is spent on transportation, making it the second-largest expenditure item, surpassed only by food, at 35.06%, according to data from the Torreón Urban Development Master Plan.

For Eduardo Rentería, people who use bicycles as a mode of transportation to get to work will continue to do so, with or without construction work. However, he comments that it's important that the construction work consider all modes of transportation.

"If there's safe infrastructure for everyday users, you'll increase bicycle use among those who travel short distances. You'll give them the option to use it."

There are examples, such as Seville, Spain, where, according to Carla Tovar, cycling infrastructure has increased, and consequently, the percentage of users. She also says that Seville is similar to La Laguna due to its climate. The Laguna region is also ideal for cycling due to its flat terrain.

FORGOTTEN PROJECTS

Other projects that have remained on paper or in rhetoric are, for example, the proposals for bicycle parking that have been promoted by the Active Mobility Plan , without any government implementing them.

"We determined which spots would be important to have bike parking so that at least the last mile of people's journeys would be done by bike," says Carla Tovar of IMPLAN.

That 2022-2024 Municipal Development Plan included managing the installation of bicycle parking, a situation that was not fulfilled and that was repeated in the current Plan (2024-2027).

The Municipal Plan for the three-year period 2024-2027 mentions the topic of cycle paths or cycling infrastructure in only four points: in the chapter on Non-Motorized Mobility, point 2.3.9 states: "Manage new cycle paths, rehabilitate existing ones, and improve their signage to promote their use and ensure the safety of cyclists." And 2.3.12 states: "Implement a program to improve pedestrian crossings to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists."

In the chapter on Public Works and Urban Image, point 2.1.9 states: "Expand, redesign, and maintain bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure."

The Roads and Efficient Mobility chapter addresses ensuring safe, efficient, and inclusive urban mobility, with an emphasis on the protection and well-being of pedestrians, cyclists, passengers, and drivers.

Investing in cycling infrastructure is in the plans, but no real work has been done.

There's also the public bicycle project. In 2023, the Torreón government announced it had received a donation of 500 bicycles that were supposed to be used in the Historic Center. Semanario requested transparency regarding the status or destination of these bicycles, and the Environmental Directorate and the Directorate of Roads and Urban Mobility responded that only 350 were donated. 100 were maintained and used in recreational and cultural events, as well as in bicycle school workshops. The remaining 250 are stored at the Compressor Sports Complex, "waiting for the necessary resources to perform maintenance and put them into operation," the response states.

Another project was to equip public transport with infrastructure to accommodate bicycles, a project that has also failed to materialize, as even public transport hasn't been modernized.

"Governments have public resources; they should be obligated to do so, but there's no legal basis for telling them 'you have this legal obligation,'" says Eduardo Rentería.

Architect José Antonio Ramírez says that processes must be accelerated and work must be done along the lines of metropolitan governance, because ultimately, as the director of Sustainable Urban Planning at IMPLAN points out: "Public space belongs to everyone."