Agua Prieta-Bavispe Highway to Improve Trade, Travel Times

The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) announced the completion of a new state axis in Sonora that will improve travel times in the region, while enhancing economic, social and commercial development. The highway is also expected to boost trade between Mexico and Arizona, the US.  

SICT explained that the inauguration of the Agua Prieta-Bavispe highway in Sonora will benefit over 77,000 inhabitants and improve communication between the municipalities of Agua Prieta, Bavispe and Sierra Alta. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Jorge Nuño Lara, Head, SICT, and Sonora’s governor Francisco Alfonso Durazo announced that the road required an investment from the Federal Budget of MX$1.57 billion (US$85.43 million), explained SICT via a press release. 

Thanks to the new highway, travel time between Agua Prieta and Bavispe will be shortened from 3.5 hours to just over one hour. Safety and comfort will also be enhanced during the transfer of people, goods and services, says SICT. However, the ministry did not specify the new highway tolls. The municipality of Agua Prieta is adjacent to the US state of Arizona.

The highways’ completion required the joint efforts of SICT, contracted construction companies and residents of the various communities in the region. Works began in June 2020 to modernize what used to be a rural road into a 7m-wide feeder road, with two traffic lanes of 3.5m each. The highway now covers a 135km stretch with 25 bridges. 

Nuño Lara argued that the highway will boost commercial development in the area, which is currently a passage for the transfer of agricultural products, livestock and people traveling from the municipalities of Nacori Chico, Bacadehuachi, Huachinera, Bacerac, Bavispe and Agua Prieta to the US.

The highway is expected to become an economic trigger, promoting tourism and future developments in the area. Social and commercial development will benefit from the access road, as local goods and services will see an increase in usage. 

The University of Arizona (UA) via the Eller College of Management’s Arizona-Mexico Economic Indicators reported that exports from Arizona to Mexico increased 26.3% in December 2022, accounting for US$770 million. Arizona’s exports to Mexico during 2022 increased by 7% in comparison to 2021, totaling US$8.7 billion. UA highlighted that imports from Mexico to Arizona increased by 27.1% in December, reaching $991 million. In 2022, imports from Mexico to Arizona grew 16.0% to US$10.9 billion.