Mexico to start allocating funds to Cancún's US$1.5bn Nichupté bridge this year

The Mexican government is planning to contribute 5.5bn pesos (US$260mn) to the construction of the Nichupté bridge in Quintana Roo tourism hub Cancún in 2022 and 2023, for which a public-private partnership tender is expected to be launched this year.

Of the amount, 1.8bn pesos will be allocated this year, while the rest is earmarked for 2023, records on the finance ministry's investment portfolio show. 

The overall project is estimated at 32.9bn pesos, according to government website Mexico Projects Hub, managed by development bank Banobras to promote PPPs. 

Of the total investment, 39.8% will come from the federal government, 6.37% from the southeastern state and 53.8% from the private sector, a cost-benefit analysis uploaded on the portfolio shows.

At the end of January, the federal government announced that the bridge would be among four highway tenders the government would launch in Quintana Roo state this year.

The idea is to start construction in May, according to infrastructure undersecretary Jorge Nuño Lara.

While a date for launching the tender has not been disclosed, Nuño said in January the project should be completed by December 2023.

The 8.8km bridge will cross the Nichupté lagoon in front of the main thoroughfare in Cancún's hotel district. It will have three lanes, one in each direction and a reversible one, in addition to two highway accesses. 

It will link the busy Kukulkán boulevard, Avenida Bonampak and Cancún’s city center. Currently, drivers have to circle around the lagoon, causing major traffic issues during rush hour.

According to the Banobras site, the winner will receive a concession to operate and maintain the bridge, but details have not yet been revealed. The cost-benefit analysis, however, says the bridge will be toll free.

Authorities are aiming to obtain the necessary rights of way for the project in July, while blueprints have already been completed and are currently in the possession of Quintana Roo strategic projects agency Agepro, the bridge’s original promoter. 

Besides having been included in the 2020-24 national infrastructure program, the bridge was added to the Oaxaca Pact infrastructure program. 

It is the first PPP approved by the state congress, which passed funding for the next three decades.