The recently opened first stage of the new Via Corta expressway linking Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta will remain closed for at least 30 days after mudslides washed away parts of the road.
The new four-lane stretch of toll road opened in April and runs from the Guadalajara-Tepic autopista to Compostela.
Heavy rain is being singled out as the main culprit for the slides.
Prior to the incidents, the director general of the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT), Jesus Felipe Verdugo, assured the public via Twitter that the stability of slopes and other factors were being carefully reviewed.
Meanwhile, motorists still have the option of using the old federal highway to reach Highway 200 (the coastal road to Vallarta) via Chapalilla, after turning off the Tepic toll road at Tequepexpan.
The 31-kilometer second stage of the Via Corta, between Compostela and Las Varas, is expected to be completed by December. When the final 81-kilometer section, from Las Varas to the Punta de Mita turnoff, is finished, the journey time between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta will have been cut by around one-third. Work on this stage, however, may not start any time soon, and is not expected to be finished within the next three years.