Baja California to Restart Infrastructure Projects
Home > Infrastructure > Article

Baja California to Restart Infrastructure Projects

Photo by:   Etienne Girardet
Share it!
Fernando Mares By Fernando Mares | Journalist & Industry Analyst - Thu, 12/01/2022 - 17:53

The government of Baja California is seeking to restart four infrastructure projects that previous administrations left unfinished. When they were conceived, some of them were considered to be world-class projects that could boost the state’s economy and solve problems like water shortages. 

Of the four projects the local government aims to restart, two are mobility projects: the Sky Train Baja and the Tijuana-Tecate rail link. The remaining two projects are the Rosarito desalination plant and the Punta Colonet port.

Sky Train Baja 


During the administration of Jaime Bonilla, the Mexico-based Jeca Railway obtained the concession to construct and operate the Sky Train Baja, which was to be an elevated electric train with eight stations and 21.6km in length to connect the San Ysidro border crossing point and Playas del Rosarito’s downtown. The project would have an investment of US$3.6 billion. On Sept. 5, 2022, the Governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar, said that Jeca would finance the entire project in return for a 30-year operating concession. At the time, del Pilar said that the company would start the project’s construction in November 2022. However, at the time of writing, the construction has not yet begun. On Nov. 9, 2022, local authorities met with Jeca to discuss the amount of power the project would need. 


Tijuana-Tecate Interurban Train

In 2020, during the Bonilla administration, a consortium comprising Citcocomex Group and FMI Projects won the tender for the construction of the Interurban Train. According to the original plan, the consortium would invest US$126 million for the first stage of the project’s construction, which would run from the San Ysidro-Tijuana crossing point to Maclovio Rojas City in Tijuana. The train would feature five stations and would be fully financed by the consortium, which gained the concession to operate it for 30 years. However, the project has remained halted because the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) highlighted issues regarding the Right of Way and project design.

Rosarito Desalination Plant 

On June 15, 2022, Baja California’s minister of Finance, Marco Moreno, said that due to the drought the state was experiencing, the local government would restart the construction of a desalination plant previously canceled by Bonilla. The government expressed its will to restart the project using a scheme relying more on outside investment since the original plan’s elevated costs led to its cancellation. However, the date the project will be restarted remains unknown. Nonetheless, some experts argue that a desalination plant might be the last option to address Mexico’s worsening water crisis.

Punta Colonet Port 

This project was originally proposed in 2007 during the Eugenio Elorduy administration, but due to time constraints, it did not materialize. In 2008, the federal government tried to retake the project and launch a tender, but due to the economic crisis, the project was canceled in 2009. Punta Colonet drew the attention of the Hong Kong-based port operator Hutchison Port Holdings. On Sept. 8, 2022, del Pilar proposed to the local Congress to create a state-owned company to operate it.

According to the local government, the port has the potential to compete with important ports in the Pacific Ocean like the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in California. However, the construction date remains uncertain and local authorities say the construction could start in two years.
 

Photo by:   Etienne Girardet

You May Like

Most popular

Newsletter