Icacos-Puerto Marqués Tunnel Approved

(Acapulco, NA 3 December) Yesterday the State Highway Department (SCT) revealed that the “Bicentennial Tunnel” project would commence early in 2011. Department head Benito García Meléndez made the announcement. The tunnel is projected to connect the east side of Acapulco’s bay, near the Naval Base, with the community of Puerto Marqués on the bay of Puerto Marqués, in Acapulco’s “Diamond Zone.” The crowded and perilous “scenic highway” would no longer have to handle through traffic, and the two main sections of Greater Acapulco would be brought much closer together. The tunnel would pass through the mountain now known as “Cumbres de Llano Largo.”

The budget for the project was recently approved by the state department of taxation and finance. The amount is $2.3 billion pesos (approximately US$200 million).

The tunnel is currently being projected to carry three lanes of traffic in each direction. So far, neither design work, engineering analyses nor topographical plats work have been started. These requirements will be the first tasks to be launched when the tunnel project officially commences next year. No target date has been set for the completion of this massive highway project, but it is expected to take several years. The tunnel will be several kilometers long. If the tunnel project progresses in the usual manner, one bore will be opened first, containing three lanes, so that drivers can use the one side while the second bore is being completed.