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Nichupté Bridge, Colosio Boulevard, and Jaguar Park To Utilize Investment
The Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), has announced a 10 billion Peso ($472 million) investment in Cancun’s tourist infrastructure.
The investment will focus predominantly on large public projects, geared to enhance the tourism experience in the region.
A large portion of the funds will be directed towards the completion of the Nichupté Bridge. The drawn out project has been stalled over the past year as it waited for combination of government involvement. The announcement suggests it will be a solely governmental project at this point, and no private funding will be required.
The planned bridge will be almost 9km long, and will connect the Cancun hotel zone with the mainland, easing some travel resources to the area. The original plan, submitted to the government at the end of 2020, was intended to be a public-private project, with full construction taking around 22 months. The back and forth regarding its funding has cast much doubt upon the concept, and even as late as October this year, it was reported that the entire project was to be privately funded.
But just last week, the governor of Quintana Roo explained a change in status and a potential lessening of the scale of the project. “It will no longer be a PPP. The bridge had very broad goals in addition to vehicle lanes, it included bicycle lanes, and many maintenance schemes during the years that the concession; but now, faced with the possibility of being a public work, they would be lost. The goals of the project will have to be reduced; Work is already underway on that, it will be a federal-state scheme, which could happen if we close it”
The bridge is being built to function as a toll road for close to 30 years, and will be built one two pieces of land donated by The National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism. It’s final design and scale is yet to be defined publicly.
Another project receiving funds is Colosio Boulevard. The main road in the Cancun Hotel zone is frequently reported as being in a state of serious disrepair. Just recently, a tourist in the area documented the frequent deep pot holes on the road, showing more than ten cars that had been affected by the unkept boulevard.
In the announcement, AMLO said “Yes, we are going to improve that avenue, Colosio, which is the main one and which is in very bad condition, totally destroyed and we have already made the commitment to rebuild it and it will be, in effect, with hydraulic concrete, taking care that the drainage is also rehabilitated , water systems. It is a work that the state government and the federal government are going to do jointly.”
On top of this, Tulum is set to receive funding for the protection of its national monuments and some new tourist attractions. The development of “Jaguar Park” will see 300 hectares of land donated by the Quintana Roo government protected from any construction.
The area will become a culture park, ecological reserve, and also enhance protection for the archaeological zone. Another similar project in Calkini was announced with 2000 hectares.
Updates on all projects are expected in an announcement next week when AMLO will sign the order.
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