Edomex Threatens to Pull Road Concessions Over Potholes on Periférico
Edomex may pull road concessions from firms that skip maintenance, Governor Delfina Gómez said. Periférico Norte and Oriente are on her list.
The government of the Estado de México (Edomex, the state next to Mexico City) will review the contracts of private companies that hold road concessions and may take those concessions away from firms that fail to maintain their roads, Governor Delfina Gómez Álvarez said on Nov. 6 in Toluca, the state capital.
The warning follows constant complaints from residents about potholes and crumbling pavement, according to El Universal and El Financiero. Two of the roads she named, Periférico Norte and Periférico Oriente, are stretches of the ring road used by many people who live in the metro area.
Which roads are on the governor’s list
Gómez Álvarez pointed to four roads with maintenance problems:
- Periférico Norte
- Periférico Oriente
- Paseo Tollocan
- Matlazincas
On these roads, the Junta de Caminos del Estado de México (the state road board) has had to step in and do repair work itself because the concession holders did not, both newspapers reported. El Financiero said the companies lacked the capacity to handle the job.
How the contract review will work
A concession is a contract under which a private company builds, runs or maintains a public road in exchange for obligations it must meet. The governor said her administration will check whether each company is keeping to the terms of its contract and will evaluate the current state of the roads in its care. If the review finds breaches, the state will consider withdrawing the concession.
She did not name any of the companies or give a deadline. Gómez Álvarez said the operators must answer for the commitments in their contracts, and should meet them with the same punctuality they expect from the state government when they demand that it keep its own obligations.
The wider road rebuilding program
The contract review is part of a broader assessment that also covers the state’s road reconstruction program, which is split into four stages. The results will be presented to President Claudia Sheinbaum, according to both reports.
The governor estimated that the state’s program to recover its road infrastructure is more than 50% complete. Rehabilitation work in the south of the state, especially in the Tejupilco and Ixtapan de la Sal regions, started at the beginning of the year. She also said Edomex had not had a road rescue plan of this size in more than four decades.
What it means for drivers in and around Mexico City
Residents of Mexico City who drive into the neighboring state, and people who live in Edomex and commute to the capital, travel on roads that fall under this review. If a concession is withdrawn, responsibility for upkeep would no longer rest with that company, though the state has not said what arrangement would replace it.
No road closures, toll changes or new repair dates were announced. For now, the state road board is doing repairs on the named roads where the private operators have not.
What to watch next
The next step is the outcome of the contract review and the reconstruction assessment, which the governor said will go to President Sheinbaum. Any decision to strip a concession would come after that review. Neither newspaper reported a date for when the findings will be made public.
Sources: El Universal, El Financiero
