Tunnel Work Proceeds on Oaxaca-Puerto Escondido Highway

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Work on two tunnels on the third section of the Oaxaca-Puerto Escondido highway is nearing completion.

Governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa inspected the site of the 224-meter-long Santa Martha tunnel, which is 95% complete. 

A second tunnel, San Antonio, which will be 11.8 meters high and 5.5 meters wide, is currently being excavated and is expected to be completed next month. 

The 6.8-billion-peso (US $324-million) Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway will shorten the distance between the state’s capital and the popular beach community. In March 2022, when the 104-kilometer-long highway is to be completed, the trip will take 2 1/2 hours, four hours less than the trip takes on two other narrow and winding mountain highways.

An expected 4,253 vehicles per day are expected to travel the new road, although that figure is double the number that has been given in the past.

“Once again, it can be seen that the federal, state and municipal governments are working so that Oaxaca continues to build, and we continue to grow together,” said Murat, who reported that the 24 kilometers that comprise section three are on schedule for a March 21, 2022 inauguration.

President López Obrador announced in June 2019 that the highway would be completed during his administration, as well as the Mitla-Tehuantepec highway.

The projects were begun many years ago but had floundered under previous administrations as former presidents Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto both made commitments to complete the highways but never followed through. 

The Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway is a major undertaking and will have 10 bridges, a viaduct, three tunnels, nine junctions and two toll booths. In addition to benefiting tourists by providing a faster way to reach the coast, the highway will also serve the more 100,000 residents of the region it traverses.

The project is providing 1,800 direct and 3,500 indirect jobs in the southern sierra region

“What we want is not just to give you a highway, but to change your lives so that you can live better. The strength of Mexico is in what we can do for ourselves today, and that is what we are doing, trying to transform the country, day by day with our efforts,” Governor Murat said at his site tour yesterday.

Source: Mexico News Daily