Mexico to boost budget for road studies in 2018

The studies are geared towards increasing the efficiency of the national road agency Direccion General de Carreteras to keep projects on budget and improve the record of completion times for new roads and upgrade works.

During 2018, the agency will be conducting studies related to 14 projects as part of the National Infrastructure Programme and 91 projects included in the National Development Plan.

By increasing the budget for the Road Studies and Projects Programme, the agency hopes also to avoid problems and faults early in the design and planning process. Events, such as the recent appearance of a sinkhole at the 14km Cuernavaca bypass, known as Paso Express, in which a father and his son in a passenger car died, should be a thing of the past.

The improved Paso Express will reduce travel time between the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico – metropolitan Mexico City - and the Pacific port and resort of Acapulco, around 380km south of Mexico City.

Secretary of the federal Transportation Department, Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, said at the time that the sinkhole was apparently caused by erosion of a drain that runs more than 1 beneath the highway.