Playa del Carmen Restores Streetlights on Universidades-Cristo Rey Corridor

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — After more than seven years of neglect, Playa del Carmen officials have fully restored public lighting along the corridor connecting Avenida Universidades to the Cristo Rey community, a route that had been left largely in darkness by transformer failures, lack of maintenance and the theft of underground cabling and light fixtures.

The project, overseen by Mayor Estefanía Mercado, was one of the main requests from Cristo Rey residents, city officials said. Crews from the Municipal Public Services Department replaced a transformer fuse and its operating elbow, connected two medium-voltage transformers and recovered the three electrical circuits that now feed 226 streetlights along the road.

Workers also installed 1,200 meters of aluminum cable, replaced 60 120-watt LED fixtures and added 10 new lights with mounting arms to replace equipment that had been stolen.

The new high-efficiency LED lamps provide brighter, more reliable illumination while using less electricity and lasting longer than the previous system, officials said. The upgraded wiring is also expected to reduce service failures and offer a more stable supply.

The roadway serves as a key access point for hundreds of families in the Cristo Rey neighborhood and is used daily by pedestrians and drivers. The rehabilitation is part of the municipal administration’s broader effort to modernize urban infrastructure and restore public services that had been neglected for years, with the goal of improving safety and mobility in the area.