Sheinbaum launches 50-billion-peso ‘Mega Bachetón’ to fix Mexico’s pothole-plagued highways

President Sheinbaum announced a large nationalist roadworthy repair programme connected Tuesday, pledging 50 cardinal pesos (US $2.86B) to tackle Mexico’s crumbling national highways done an intensive resurfacing run dubbed the “Mega Bachetón” (Mega Pothole-thon).

The announcement, made during the president’s greeting quality league astatine the National Palace, represents 1 of the astir important infrastructure investments of her medication and straight responds to wide complaints astir roadworthy conditions crossed the country.

“We conducted a thorough reappraisal of the highways and gathered requests from citizens during our travels passim the country,” Sheinbaum said.

The National Highway Conservation and Mega Bachetón Program 2026 volition screen 18,000 kilometers of toll-free national highways, oregon conscionable nether fractional (42%) of the country’s toll-free roadways. The inaugural expects to make astir 100,000 jobs passim 2026.

Regional breakdown

The programme divides the state into 5 operational regions, each targeting cardinal proscription corridors:

Northwest (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora and Sinaloa): 8.659 cardinal pesos to repair 3,170 kilometers covering the Pacific Corridor, Mexico-Nogales and Mazatlán-Matamoros and Gulf-North routes.

Northeast (Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas): Covering the Mexico-Nuevo Laredo, Querétaro-Ciudad Juárez, Veracruz-Monterrey and Gulf-Huasteca routes.

Central-West (Aguascalientes, Colima, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Querétaro): Including the Manzanillo-Tampico and Guadalajara-Zacatecas routes.

Central Region (México state, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala): Targeting the Acapulco-Tuxpan, Center-Gulf, Acapulco-Veracruz, Mexico-Veracruz and High Plateau Corridor highways.

South-Southeast (Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatán): Addressing the Puebla-Progreso, Puebla-Tapachula, Trans-Isthmus Circuit and Yucatán Peninsula routes.

The 15 precedence highways for the Mega Bachetón project. (proyectosmexico.gob.mx)

Technology and efficiency

To optimize resources and trim costs, the authorities has invested successful state-of-the-art repaving equipment. The programme volition deploy 31 paving trains and 62 specialized pothole repair units.

Ten paving trains began operations successful 2025, with different 10 acceptable to commencement enactment betwixt January and February 2026. An further 11 machines volition beryllium purchased to guarantee each portion has dedicated equipment.

The modern machinery tin beforehand up to 1 kilometer per day, importantly improving efficiency. The authorities is purchasing materials straight and utilizing its ain instrumentality to fortify the program’s method capableness and power costs.

A cardinal innovation is simply a integer monitoring strategy designed to observe and repair potholes wrong 72 hours crossed the 43,000-kilometer toll-free network.

Timeline

The programme officially runs from January done December 2026, with enactment already underway successful immoderate regions. The inaugural includes some regular attraction — filling potholes, leveling surfaces, clearing vegetation and cleaning drainage systems — and much extended periodic conservation involving milling and applying five-centimeter asphalt layers.

The monolithic undertaking represents a important trial for the Sheinbaum administration’s quality to present connected infrastructure promises. With Mexico preparing to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside the United States and Canada, improved road conditions volition beryllium captious for some home question and planetary visitors navigating betwixt big cities.

Mexico News Daily