The governor of Jalisco has announced a 30-year master development plan for the coastal region of the state known as Costalegre.

Speaking at an event Saturday at Chalacatepec beach, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez said that the plan will guarantee economic growth and development in the municipalities of Cabo Corrientes, Tomatlán, La Huerta and Cihuatlán during the next three decades.

A 3.8-billion-peso (US $200-million) highway linking Puerto Vallarta to the region will be the centerpiece of the plan, which will also include other infrastructure projects such as new schools and health clinics.

Construction of about 3,000 new hotel rooms — mainly five-star — will be permitted within an economic corridor that will urbanize just 1.7% of the 743,300 hectares that make up the Costalegre region, Alfaro said.

A governing body made up of members of civil society, state and municipal authorities, investors and experts will be responsible for drawing up the specific details of the development plan and implementing it, he explained.

“The intention is that this year we will be able to have a great agreement established with the political, social, economic and academic actors of Costalegre in order to define the direction of this region,” Alfaro said.

“This project will have a direct impact on social well-being, the economy, land-use planning and protection of the environment. It’s a historic day because today the Costalegre [region] begins a new stage,” the Citizens’ Movement governor declared.

Alfaro said the plan will help to improve the quality of life of Costalegre residents and explained that environmental impact studies for the highway project as well as the process to obtain rights of way will conclude soon, meaning that tendering to find a company to build the new road will take place this year.

Once built, travel time between the Puerto Vallarta International Airport and Chalacatepec – a destination sometimes referred to as the new Cancún because of its natural beauty and tourism potential – is expected to be just 50 minutes.

Alfaro stressed that the development in the Costalegre region will not be harmful to the environment and that particular care will be taken not to affect sea turtle nesting grounds.

“. . . The basic core from which this [development] model will be built is to take care of our environmental assets [and] to look after sustainability . . .”

Source: El Economista (sp), El Occidental (sp)