Highway construction is back on track again following a decision on the weekend to suspend a blockade.
During a community assembly held at San Vicente Coatlán, communal and municipal authorities decided to end their latest blockade and allow construction of the Puerto Escondido-Oaxaca highway to resume once again.
State government representatives attended the assembly, led by Government Minister Jesús Romero.
Little more than the construction of a bridge and a viaduct on the Paraje El Limar section of the highway remains before all work is complete and the project can be deemed finished and ready to use.
Last week, the people of Coatlán accused the state government of refusing to respect a series of agreements reached earlier this year, including access to basic services such as drinking water, medical infrastructure and educational centers.
This most recent hiatus was solved without the intervention of the federal government, which exerted pressure earlier this year by suggesting the road could simply be rerouted if Coatlán and neighboring Villa Sola de Vega didn’t solve a decades-long territorial and agrarian dispute, the main reason for construction delays.
Meanwhile, the latest official prediction — a completion date in July or August — may have been as unattainable as all the rest that have been made over the years. One news report hinted at a December inauguration date.
However, many drivers have been using the highway anyway, reducing travel time to as little as three hours. One driver recommended traveling at night or on Sundays when there is no construction activity.
With reports by Libertad Oaxaca
