We’re Almost There: Bypass Highway Closed Again
Tara A. Spears
“Heading on highway/ looking for adventure /and whatever comes my way…”
The beachside communities of western Mexico have so much to offer but getting there is somewhat problematic. The first time that I drove from the larger city- with the international airport- it was interesting and exciting. Look at the tropical vegetation hugging the twisty two-lane! Such charming little settlements along the route-opps, that’s a speed bump (tompe)! Twenty years later, the volume of vehicles has at least tripled but the narrow serpentine highway 200 to the coastal paradise is still the same. The solution to providing better highway access to the Pacific beaches has not been easy.
It is no longer fun to sit at a total stop due to an accident blocking the highway or to crawl along due to the sheer volume of travelers. Fortunately, the government approved adding modern 4 lane freeways to connect from major city to major city and enhance accessibility to the coastal tourist towns. In 2001 there were media reports of governmental approval to begin building the Guadalajara to Vallarta bypass super highway.
I was so excited at the prospect of better driving time to and from Jaltemba Bay. Prep work began in 2008 with actual construction happening by 2011. The entire highway was planned to be completed in 2014 but by then I had stopped believing the straighter, more level highway would ever be achieved.
16 years have passed without said project being completed. As of June 2021, the 67-kilometer stretch from Jala to Compostela (stage 1) has been the only section completed. The tourist region that includes Puerto Vallarta (Jalisco) and Bahía de Banderas (Nayarit) receives thousands of national and foreign tourists weekly. Carreteria 200 was not designed to handle this amount of volume and especially not the double eighteen-wheeler trucks making deliveries of beer and building supplies to the small coastal towns.
In 2019 there were a record number of monthly deaths in highway accidents between La Varas -Vallarta. How horrible to go on a family vacation and end up dead instead of frolicking in the ocean! The public outcry motivated the federal government to increase funding and order more crews and seven-day workweeks in order to complete the bypass toll road. The 4-land toll road project was divided into 5 stages with several stages being under construction at the same time.
One cannot criticize the government agencies that oversee the project for lack of effort. The Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) and the National Infrastructure Fund Trust (FONADIN) have had major complications within the project including environmental issues-endangered species within the original path as well as discovering important archeological ruins- that had to be relocated. The biggest cause of slow progress is the terrain that had to be tamed: not only tropical rainforests but the Sierra Madre Mountains besides erosional surfaces through much of the projected route.
It was a joyous occasion when it was announced in mid-March 2024 that the entire bypass road would be open in time for the Easter/spring break holiday which has the highest use every year. I, like most long-timers, rushed to check out that dream highway. It did not disappoint! It is not cheap to utilize the toll road but definitely worth it. To travel from Jala to Puerto Vallarta on the bypass cuoto, the 2024 toll fees for the toll road are about $1,000 pesos each way.
Sadly, a mere three weeks later, the Stage 2 section that goes from Compostela to Las Varas was AGAIN closed to use! The initial opening of Stage 2 a few years ago had dangerous road collapse in a matter of weeks and was shut down. A new team of engineers and contractors were hired to overcome the shifty crust. The new plan was to avoid the weak base by cutting tunnels instead of going on top of the terrain. Billions of pesos have been spent on this highway in an effort to ease the vehicle pressure on the old highway 200. As of April, 2024, four of the 5 sections of the Guadalajara- Vallarta Autopiso are operational. Poso a poca, we are making progress! I have trust that the engineers will again overcome the natural obstacles and eventually get the Stage 2 road safe and useable.
One needs to recognize the various factors that have delayed the realization of this challenging highway project. It has been a tremendous effort of federal, state, and private sectors working together to overcome the perplexing terrain. One way to look at the Jala-Vallarta bypass project is to applaud the tenacity, intelligence and ingenuity of the Mexican culture.
