Why do the roads SW of Cancun make such weird patterns. It’s almost like a ladder or just long roads to nowhere with single houses on either side. I have seen this in other central/south American countries as well. What political/legal/geographical/etc factors make it turn out like this?
I >>KNOW<< there is someone out there who can understand and explain this satisfactorily. I just need to find the right community, group, etc.
Ask a surveyor with experience in Mexico.
It looks like most of the minor streets are mostly parallel with or perpendicular to the major road to the north and the rest are aligned along the cardinal directions: north & south, east & west. Lots of the properties and their respective drainage and road right of ways were probably apportioned to align with whatever the most significant roadway or canal was in place at the time. I can see the being portioned off using simple legal language like you can buy the north 50 meters of the south 300 meters relative to “this road” and the east 50 meters of the west 200 meters relative to “this canal”. You can accurately divide an area this way without any need to define a grid north, a proper grid coordinate system, and very basic survey tools.
I’d guess that the other streets oriented to the cardinal directions came later as survey tools and practices advanced or some other change in the way municipalities regulate. For example, in the U.S. you see most gridded streets and lots in older areas, relative to sections townships and ranges, but in new platted developments constantly curving streets are all the rage.
Whatever the cause, you are seeing the history of land development as the area develops it’s customs around land development.
This is as good a theory as any. I also thought of range and township in the American west. Every time I end up on a road called Meridian, Baseline, Township, or something similar, I’m instantly reminded. Perhaps researching how they measured and recorded land historically would get me closer to an answer.