Remodeling on 5th Avenue in Playa Del Carmen
Plans for the remodeling of the lower portion of 5th Avenue and Park Fundadores were announced in early May 2020. The renovation included the part of 5th Avenue from Park Fundadores to 14th Street, side streets and Park Fundadores. We showed you the plans for the remodel in this article. Since then, work has started and progressed, albeit slowly. So, what does 5th Avenue in Playa Del Carmen look like now?
Well, most of 5th Avenue is still under construction. It is all leveled out and new tubing has been run under the newly compressed base. Most of the hard part is done, which included removal of the old pavers and doing all the new electrical and tubing below the surface. Below is a photo of 5th Avenue take at the end of August 2020. This is 10th Street looking south on 5th Avenue. The sub straight has been prepared and pavers for the side of the new pavement are stacked on the side.
Below is 5th Avenue looking south from 14th Street. Here everything has been leveled and is waiting for pavers to be delivered.
There will be two colors of pavers that will be installed. Below are the dark pavers for the sides of 5th Avenue. These pavers are designed to absorb and pass water through them faster than traditional pavers. This will help have a positive environmental impact on the beaches. The water runoff from heavy downpours in the past would run down the side streets to the beach. Having more adsorption of rain water will keep more dirty water from running into the ocean.
Below is a rendering of what 5th Avenue will look like finished.
One block is almost done of 5th Avenue in Playa Del Carmen
The block of 5th Avenue between 4th Street and 6th Street is the most complete at this time. Some of the new features you can see in the photo are:
- Newly planted trees. They look dead, but this is how some tropical trees look when transplanted. They will grow.
- Dark blocks on the sides and tan blocks in the middle of 5th Avenue.
- A nice flat surface that makes it feel a little wider.
- What you cannot see if the new tubes and cables that have been laid beneath the street.
How is the remodeling of Park Fundadores coming?
The idea for the remodeling of the Park Fundadores area is to create a stepped area going down toward the statue and water. This was planned for the second phase of the remodel. The demolition and formation of the new levels have been started. The papantla dance pole has moved to closer to the Cozumel Pier.
How is all this affecting 5th Avenue?
You might notice in the pictures above that there are not that many people on the street and some businesses looked closed. We will say that most of these photos were taken in the morning when there are far less people on the street and less businesses open. Some are decrying that this work will help kill some of the businesses. We don’t feel that that will hurt that much because the fact is there is very low tourism rates now. The months of July and August are normally slower months for Playa Del Carmen. This year, which is a very special situation, we are seeing numbers continue to rise.
Tourism opened in early June for Playa Del Carmen and the Riviera Maya. By the end of July, it was at about 20% compared to the previous year. At the end of August, we are seeing about 33% tourism compared to 2019. The current trend is positive as more and more people feel comfortable traveling and more things open. This means that there probably will never be a better time to remodel 5th Avenue. For businesses on the south end of 5th Avenue there is not much tourism to shop in their stores and for most of the time the street was passable. As of the end of August it is possible to walk all of 5th Avenue.
This does not mean that this has hurt a little for tourists visiting parts of 5th Avenue, but the fact is that some businesses were just not in a position to pass through the economic crisis. The small number of tourists that might have been deterred from walking all of 5th Avenue is minimal and would not have saved some of the businesses from closing. We would estimate as of now there have been about 15% of businesses that have closed. For those businesses that can stay open and wait, there should be a payoff with the remodel of 5th Avenue. The remodel will make it more attractive for people to stroll down 5th along with being a little more shaded.
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Keep up the good work we hope we can spend our sixth winter in Playa
This is looking wonderful. Can’t wait for our next visit this winter!
Hoping the people and economy of Playa survive these difficult times and tourism returns to the area very soon! It is such a unique and wonderful place.
The renovation is looking wonderful while keeping the charm of Playa and 5th Avenue. Looking forward to returning for my third winter in Playa. Looking forward to seeing all my friends again and ALL of the wonderful people of Playa!
Any update on the construction and tourism? Viewing all webcams I can find there, it does not look very busy.
During the day many tourists prefer the beach, so at night there are more people on 5th Avenue. We are about 65% now for tourists. Construction is still ongoing, but not too much an impediment for walking around.