After 20 years of delays and broken promises by past presidents, a new highway that will significantly reduce travel time between Oaxaca city and the southern state’s Pacific coast will finally be ready next March, according to Governor Alejandro Murat.
The governor said Wednesday that the Oaxaca-Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway, which will link the state capital to the popular tourist destination of Puerto Escondido, will be completed by March 21, 2022.
While inspecting the construction work, Murat said the highway is 65% finished. The project will cut travel time between Oaxaca city and the coast from six hours to 2 1/2. President López Obrador will inspect the highway during a visit to Oaxaca on June 8, Murat said.
Past presidents Vicente Fox, Felipe Calderón and Enrique Peña Nieto all failed to fulfill their promises to complete the highway.
Murat said 1.5 billion pesos (US $74.8 million) has been invested in the highway section that runs between Barranca Larga in the Central Valleys region of Oaxaca and Ventanilla, a community near Puerto Escondido.
Construction of the 104-kilometer, four-lane section, which includes six bridges and three tunnels, is generating 10,000 direct jobs and 5,500 indirect ones, the governor said, explaining that three different companies are working on the highway. The project is benefiting more than 100,000 residents of 11 communities, he added.
New educational, health and drainage infrastructure has been built in municipalities though which the highway passes, among which are San Vicente Coatlán and San Pablo Coatlán.
Murat said that completion of the highway will boost tourism not only in Puerto Escondido but also in other coastal destinations such as Puerto Ángel, Mazunte and Huatulco.
Source: Milenio (sp)
