Quintana Roo to Revamp 1,000+ km of Highways by 2026

Quintana Roo, Mexico — The Secretariat of Public Works (SEOP) of Quintana Roo has announced an ambitious highway infrastructure plan with a target date of 2026, through which it intends to address more than a thousand kilometers of state roads and highways that, in some cases, have been deteriorating for over two decades.

The head of the department, Rafael Lara Díaz, reported that the work will be concentrated in the municipalities of Lázaro Cárdenas, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Bacalar, and Othón P. Blanco, which are considered the most lagging in terms of land connectivity.

Among the first sections to be addressed in 2026 are the road from Cafetal to Mahahual, a strategic corridor for tourism in the Costa Maya, and the road connecting Kantunilkín to Chiquilá, the access point to Holbox Island, one of the state's fastest-growing destinations.

"From the government led by Governor Mara Lezama, we are working to settle a historical debt with the communities, which have waited for more than 20 years for the rehabilitation of these roads," emphasized Lara Díaz.

He recalled that Quintana Roo has a state network of more than 3,000 kilometers of roads and highways, many of them secondary, which are vital not only for tourist mobility but also for the transport of agricultural, timber, and fishing products. However, a large part of this infrastructure has been left behind in the face of the entity's economic and demographic growth.

In municipalities such as Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Bacalar, rural communities depend on local roads that become practically impassable during the rainy season. In the southern zone, the highways are essential for connecting Chetumal with the Mayan towns and with the northern part of the state.

Meanwhile, the Cafetal-Mahahual section is considered a priority due to its link with the cruise ship tourism that arrives at the port of Mahahual, where thousands of international visitors disembark each year.

For its part, the Kantunilkín-Chiquilá highway has become a bottleneck due to the growing influx of traffic to Holbox, which has generated constant complaints from transporters, hoteliers, and tourists about the poor condition of the road.

The planned investment seeks not only to improve road safety and reduce travel times but also to boost the competitiveness of rural regions that depend on local commerce. He stated that the highway program is part of the state government's strategy to reduce the inequality gaps between the tourist north and the south of the state, where infrastructure lags are more evident.

The SEOP assured that the plan will be executed in stages and with multi-annual resources, which will allow not only for the rehabilitation but also for the preventive maintenance of the intervened sections. With this project, Quintana Roo seeks to strengthen its internal connectivity and respond to a citizen demand that, according to the authorities, "has been ignored by past administrations for more than 20 years."