SANTO DOMINGO. - Tourism Minister David Collado inaugurated the renovated Juan Pablo Duarte Park this Wednesday and opened the restored Las Mercedes Street in the Colonial City, as part of the extensive rehabilitation program for this historic, emblematic, and tourist area of the Dominican capital.
The works are part of the Comprehensive Tourism and Urban Development Program for the Colonial City, implemented by the Ministry of Tourism and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with an investment of 90 million dollars.
Collado highlighted the importance of these two projects and pointed out the historical value of the restoration of the emblematic Duarte Park, in addition to its tourist attraction.
The official also stated that the opening of the symbolic Las Mercedes street is part of the Priority Streets project, which seeks to transform the streets of the Colonial City into more livable, walkable, inclusive, and accessible public spaces for its residents, merchants, and visitors.
“These two projects have extraordinary value in this entire effort to completely transform our beautiful and historic Colonial City,” said Minister Collado.
Duarte Park
The renovation work at Duarte Park included lighting, new landscaping, planting of new trees, new signage, permeable paving stones, and a design with universal accessibility.
Scope of the work on Las Mercedes Street
Las Mercedes street is 715 meters long and the work carried out consists of new paving on the road and sidewalks, with concrete slabs.
The space was transformed into a single platform, between sidewalks and streets, for safe pedestrian movement.
The water and sanitation network was rehabilitated and the drinking water network and connections were replaced, both for residences and businesses.
The sanitary drainage system was separated from the storm drainage system, and tactile paving was added to safely guide people with reduced vision.
Upon completion of the project, the electrical and telecommunications networks will be buried underground.
This priority streets project focuses on the rehabilitation of 4.7 kilometers of streets, including the renovation of pavements, sidewalks, water and sanitation, electrical and telecommunications networks, as well as a pilot plan for electromobility and waste management.
The prioritized streets are: Las Damas, El Conde, Hostos, Luperón, Salomé Ureña, Duarte, 19 de Marzo, José Reyes, Las Mercedes, Arzobispo Nouel and Padre Billini.
