The private sector in Chiapas is confident that one of the state’s most anticipated projects, the Palenque-San Cristóbal de Las Casas highway, will be completed during the current presidential term. The first phase of construction has already begun on the Palenque-Ocosingo section.
This was stated by Luis Alberto Estrada Contreras, president of the Chiapas Business Center (CECH), who expressed his expectation that the announced projects will be successfully completed.
“I am confident that the major projects that have been announced will be finalized during this six-year term. One of them is the highway that connects the north of the state with the central region, known as the Highway of Cultures. We hope that the budgets will be allocated and finalized so that construction can continue year after year,” he affirmed.
The Palenque hotelier explained that it is an ambitious and technically complex project, but essential for improving the state’s connectivity. He acknowledged that the project is already underway in its first phase toward Ocosingo, although he stressed the need for guarantees to ensure its completion.
The construction of the Palenque–Ocosingo highway, known as the “Route of Mayan Cultures,” has been a long-standing demand. This road is expected to boost community development, employment, and regional integration in municipalities such as Salto de Agua, Ocosingo, Chilón, San Juan Cancuc, Tenejapa, Chamula, and San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
The project encompasses 94 kilometers of highway, including a 16-kilometer access road. In addition, 73 structures will be integrated, including interchanges, bridges, tunnels, wildlife crossings, and viaducts, with the aim of improving connectivity and enhancing road safety.
In its first phase, corresponding to the Palenque–Ocosingo section, 4.65 kilometers of asphalt pavement with two lanes are being constructed, including two underpasses and two bridges. This phase will generate more than 5,500 direct jobs and 16,500 indirect jobs.
Estrada Contreras emphasized that this highway will be fundamental in strengthening tourism, Chiapas’s main economic activity, by connecting important regional attractions such as the archaeological sites of Palenque, Bonampak, Yaxchilán, and Toniná, in Ocosingo.
The private sector believes that the completion of this highway will represent a strategic step forward for the state’s economic and social development.
Source: oem
