Mexico’s Transportation Ministry (SICT) plans to invest more than 112 billion pesos (nearly US $6 billion) on highway improvements over the next five years.
According to a press release, the work will target 10 major federal expressways that cross 14 states, from Sonora and Chihuahua in the north to Tabasco and Campeche in the south. The project will also include maintenance of several state highways.
Carlos Arceo, the SICT’s director of highways who announced the plan during a conference organized by the College of Civil Engineers on Monday, said the aim is to exceed 2,220 kilometers (1,367 miles) of repairs and improvements.
The scope of the project will fall short of what was announced in February by President Claudia Sheinbaum when she presented a 173 billion-peso plan to upgrade 4,000 km (2,485 miles) of highway.
“Investment alone is never enough,” Arceo said. “The important thing is to know where to invest. So, we’re going to stretch [the investment] as much as possible to achieve the greatest possible impact with fewer resources.”
In keeping with what Sheinbaum said in February, however, Arceo said the project will target roads that “truly serve the communities” they traverse.
“We’re building roads to close the inequality gap,” he said. “We’re not just thinking about a road, but about the benefits that road will bring to communities.”
In addition to the road upgrades, improvements will be made to 16.3 km worth of bridges and interchanges across nine states.
La ampliación de la carretera Macuspana-Escárcega beneficiará a 370 mil usuarios 🛣️✨
Este proyecto contempla la modernización total en 300 km y la construcción de dos puentes vehiculares, Poza Azul y Agua Blanca. pic.twitter.com/W2l0zzSsol
— SICT México (@SICTmx) August 18, 2025
Among the projects being carried out this year are upgrades to the Cuautla-Tlapa-Marquelia Highway, connecting the states of Morelos, Puebla, and Guerrero, and the Pachuca-Huejutla-Tamazunchale Highway, linking the states of Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí. Long stretches of both of these highways will be widened from 7 meters to 12 meters.
The 67-km stretch of the Bavispe-Nuevo Casas Grandes Highway, from the state of Sonora to Chihuahua is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, while improvements to two key sections of the popular 650-km Tierra y Libertad highway that traverses 36 municipalities in the state Morelos — the El Hospital bypass and the Jojutla bridge — should be completed by the end of the month.
Additionally, the heavily utilized Highway 57 in the northern state of Coahuila will be widened from Saltillo, the state capital, to Monclova — a distance of nearly 200 kilometers (124 miles) — to accommodate the volume of cargo transported on this route.
Arceo said environmental impact assessments are underway in order to upgrade the Toluca-Zihuatanejo highway connecting the capital of México state with the popular Guerrero beach resort.
The other four stretches slated for improvement connect:
- Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí and Tampico, Tamaulipas
- Salina Cruz, Oaxaca and Zihuatenejo, Guerrero
- Macuspana, Tabasco, and Escárcega, Campeche
- Guaymas-Esperanza-Yécora, Sonora and Chihuahua, Chihuahua
With reports from La Jornada, Milenio and T21
