28 story escalator Colombia

28 story escalator Colombia

28 story escalator Colombia, 28-story escalator opens, A 28-story outdoor escalator has opened in this large South American city. The $6.7 million project is expected to cut the time it takes local residents to hoof it up a huge hill from 35 minutes to six minutes.

Taking the stairs was never this easy. Residents of Medellin, Colombia took their inaugural climb this week on what may be the world’s tallest outdoor escalator, a 28-story electric stairway up a steep hillside serving 12,000 residents.

Previously, residents of the Comuna 13 neighborhood had to climb hundreds of steps, but now one of the poorest areas in Colombia’s second-largest city will serve as an example to neighboring countries on how to perch the escalator machinery on the sides of rocky walls.

However, this mega electric stairway hasn’t been built in a futuristic casino or a glitzy mall. Instead, this $6.7 million behemoth was constructed in the Comuna 13 neighborhood of Medellin, Colombia – one of the poorest and most violent areas of the city.

The escalator is divided into six sections and has been built against a steep hillside, leaving residents of Comuna 13 overjoyed. Whereas previously people would spend 35 minutes climbing hundreds of steps to scale the hill, the new escalator takes only six minutes to scale 1,260 feet – and all for free. Best of all, there’s a second escalator for the downhill journey as well. Nice!

This week saw residents take their inaugural journey on the new stairway, and for once they could relax and enjoy the scenic view overlooking Medellin. Officials in the city are hoping the escalator will help quash the violent reputation of the area, and turn the neighborhood into a source of national pride.