Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - Last week, the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) began re-paving and deep patching along 7 kilometers of Highway 200 from Punta Negra to Mismaloya. The road work, which is being personally supervised and managed by Mayor Ramon Guerrero Martinez, is being funded by a federal investment of $10 million pesos.

Oscar Delgado Chavez, the CEO of Infrastructure and Municipal Services, announced that the highway repairs, which involves cutting out areas that are damaged or bumpy, removing the old paving materials and laying new asphalt, will take approximately three months to complete. Once the repairs have been completed, a 3 inches thick layer of asphalt will be laid along the 7 mile stretch, and road signage will be installed.

Delgado Chavez said that along with these works, the municipal agency will also be using these techniques to repair the Libramiento Carretero and Prisciliano Sanchez and Mexico Avenues. They will also be repairing the pavement and patching the cobblestone streets in El Centro and surrounding subdivisions, such as Sendero de Luna.

Beneficial to Businesses in the Southern Zone

Sr. Enrique Gomez, a businessman in the area, says that the works being carried out are of great benefit to tourists and those who use this road every day. "[The repairs] will benefit all of us in terms of getting more traffic... Coming to Puerto Vallarta will be faster, which obviously means that the tourists that come from the South will come happier. Instead of having to watch out for [and slow down to avoid] holes, they will find a good road."

Meanwhile, Boca de Tomatlán municipal agent, Jorge Humberto Martinez Romero, stressed that this work is urgently needed as it has been almost 15 years since maintenance has been done on this road, which is important because it is the only route to the communities in this area, and into neighboring municipalities.

According to Martinez Romero, one of the main effects of the old road was economic. "We really needed a new road, as the old one was economically bad for us, since these are tourist areas and tourism is the only income for many families. I think [the new road] will increase tourism, which will improve the local economy... I think this is going to be beneficial, and why not? people are already happy, there have already been positive comments," he said.