Officials from Jalisco’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works (SIOP) have confirmed plans to rehabilitate the Chapala-Guadalajara highway in 2018.
Esaú Flores Álvarez, SIOP’s highway infrastructure chief, announced that the state will spend 40 million pesos to upgrade the 21 kilometers of roadway under its jurisdiction, comprising the segments located between Chapala’s north entrance and the junction at Santa Rosa near the new Macrolibramiento overpass and the stretch from the Pereférico Sur to Avenida Lázaro Cardenas.
The remaining 25 kilometers are part of the federal highway system under the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT). However, the federal agency has budgeted less than one million pesos for routine maintenance of that section this year. SIOP has solicited an additional 47 million pesos to cover major repairs for parts where the road surface is most heavily damaged. The request has not been resolved to date.
According to data reported by the Guadalajara daily El Informador, the administration of current governor Aristóteles Sandoval has reduced spending on highway preservation by 24 percent compared to his predecessor, Emilio Gonzalez. The state has coughed up around 250 million pesos for that purpose between 2013 and 2017, roughly equivalent to the amount invested during the previous three-year period.