August 15, 2018 / Modified aug 15, 2018 11:59 a.m.

Sonoran Highway Construction Won't Be Done In August After All

An official said the real goal of the deadline was simply to speed up the construction process.

Sonoran highway construction thumb Sonora's Highway 15 stretches from the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales to the border with the Mexican state of Sinaloa at Don Estación.
Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico

Mexican officials said earlier this year that a highway improvement project in the northern Mexican state of Sonora was slated to be completed by the end of August. But Sonora’s governor says that’s not going to happen.

The project includes improvements to the entire 400-mile stretch of highway from the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales to Sonora’s southern border with the state of Sinaloa. About 70 miles of the project are still unfinished, mostly in the northern section closest to the border.

Francisco Javier Hernández VIEW LARGER Francisco Javier Hernández is the director of the federal transportation department in Sonora. He says Highway 15 will be completed in November and comments about finishing in August were just meant to speed things up.
Kendal Blust, Fronteras Desk

In May, the head of the federal transportation department said he wanted construction to be completed in August. But Sonoran Gov. Claudia Pavlovich now says that’s impossible.

But the August deadline was just supposed to speed up the construction process, says Francisco Javier Hernández, the federal transportation director in Sonora.

"The transportation director wanted to accelerate the work," he said. "And it’s good that he did because it spurred all of us to pick up the pace so we can finish before the end of November."

He says the real goal has always been to finish the project before Mexico’s current president leaves office at the end of November, and construction is on track to be completed by then.

Fronteras Desk
This story is from the Fronteras Desk, a collaboration of Southwestern public radio stations, including NPR 89.1. Read more from the Fronteras Desk.
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona