In recent years the Mexican government has invested billions of dollars in upgrading telecommunications, water, road, rail, airport and port infrastructure to take advantage of the country’s important strategic location.
Sixteen major ports on the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts have been modernized in recent years and over the next six years approximately US$3.7 billion will be invested in port infrastructure with the aim of doubling capacity as the economy expands and speeding up movements of cargo in and out of the country.
Mexico has 64 international airports. Major airports are being upgraded and the world’s most important airlines fly into Mexico City and Cancún, linking them to cities around the globe. Here in the Mexican Caribbean, Cancún is an increasingly important hub with connecting flights to cities elsewhere in the country and the region.
The country’s highway network is also being modernized. Examples of major upgrades are the completion of the Merida-Campeche and Mexico City-Tuxpan toll roads and the new Mazatlan-Durango route through the Sierra Madre, which reduces travel times considerably from the Pacific coast to Durango and industrial centers in northern Mexico. This modern highway through the mountains is a feat of engineering and has the Baluartes Bridge, the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world (1,321 feet above the valley floor).
Nevertheless, the task of modernizing the country’s 230,000-mile highway network is huge, as many routes are still unpaved, especially in remote areas.
In May, President Peña Nieto announced an investment plan worth approximately US$587 billion dollars focusing on transport and communication, energy, water supply, health, urban development, housing and tourism.
Baluartes Bridge photo: Durango Tourism Board
