Mexican president proposes massive national infrastructure plan

Mexican president proposes massive national infrastructure plan    The Mexican government plans to spend about $44.5 billion to upgrade and expand the country's transportation infrastructure under President Felipe Calder'n’s $250 billion national development plan for 2007-2012.
   If approved by the Mexican Congress, the plan would spend $27 billion on highway development, $5 billion on the national rail system, $7 billion to expand ports in the country, and $5.5 on the nation's airports. The government would provide $22 billion of the total, with the private sector picking up the remaining $22.5 billion.
   'Infrastructure is synonymous with social and human development,' Calder'n said last week in announcing the plan. 'Nowadays, competitiveness, economic growth and countries’ opportunities for well-being depend largely on the solidity and modernity of their infrastructure. As Mexicans, we have the opportunity and historic responsibility to make the decisions that will conclusively promote the country’s development.'
   The highway component of the plan calls for building and modernizing 11,000 miles of highways. Of this total 3,400 miles would be trunk routes, 4,700 miles being non-highway routes, 2,500 miles of rural roads and supplementary highways, and 831 miles of complementary works. The overall goal of the highway investments would be to raise the condition of the country's federal highway network that operates in “good condition” from the current 72 percent to 90 percent. The plan estimate this would result in a concomitant 50 percent reduction in the national accident rate.
   Another goal is to add 880 miles of railways to the national rail system, complete the first construction phases of three suburban train lines between Mexico City and the state of Mexico, and build 10 multimodal corridors, and 12 intermodal cargo terminals. Included in this would be the development of the proposed Punta Colonet port complex in Baja California. The Mexican government envisions the Colonet port complex as being a major competitor to U.S. West Coast ports such as those in Southern California.
   Funds from the ports component of the plan would also go to the Punta Colonet project. Other port development under the plan would include the creation of four new ports and the modernization of 22 existing facilities, raising the national intermodal capacity from 4 million TEUs annually to 7 million TEUs. The ports component also calls for the construction of 13 new cruise terminals.
   Planned investment for airports under the plan would construct three new airports and expand another 31. The government estimates this investment would increase Mexico’s air cargo transport capacity by 50 percent, allow at least half of Mexico's national airports to meet international certification standards, and meet long-term growth demands for the Mexico City region.