Mexico’s slow moving highway program revved up at mid-year as the federal highways entity, Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), awarded a batch of mid-sized P3 toll highways to local developers following a year-long pause in procurements.

SCT granted its first-ever highway concession from an unsolicited proposal to IDEAL Group. IDEAL lodged the private initiative for the two-lane, 90-km toll road under a DBFOM 30-year contract that drew no rival bidders. IDEAL was paid Mex. P. 36.5 million (US$1.8 million) for the engineering. The highway will cost Mex. P. 7.250 billion (US$390 million) and will run 90 km between the Pacific Ocean resorts of Puerto Vallarta and Las Varas, linking the states of Jalisco and Nayarit. The route is forecast to handle an average of 6,350 vehicles daily and will be operated with free flow tolling.