Morelia-Aeropuerto Highway

active

On February 11, 2007 governor of Michoacan and the state of Michoacan secretariat of public works, Secretario de Comunicaciones y Obras Públicas (SCOP), signed a greenfield contract with the and the president of the private company Empresa Purepecha to build and operate a 26 km toll road in the state of Michoacan for a period of 30 years. The Morelia-Aeropuerto Highway was to connect the city of Morelia directly with the airport and the existing highway Autopista de Occidente. It was estimated to cut down the commuting time from the Airport to Mexico City by at least 20 minutes. The project differed from most highway concessions in Mexico in that it was awarded by the state of Michoacan without federal funding or support. As a private initiative, it was to provide funding for a route that was too expensive for the state without private financing. The call for tenders was launched in May 2006. The bidding criteria was not publicly available, but one of the requirements was that the winner agreed to provide proof that it had 200 million pesos (US $18.3 million) of the total 750 million (US $68.6 million) needed to construct the road. In November of 2006, the project was awarded to the company Empresa Purepecha. Empresa Purepecha owned 100% of the project and provided all of the funding for its construction. The legal right of way permits, however, were purchased by the Michoacan government for 50 million pesos (US $4.5 million). Construction began in February 2007 and was 65% complete as of December 2007. Although originally scheduled for completion by December 2007, the highway was expected to become operational in 2008. The highway became operational on June 26, 2008. Pinfra completed a purchase of 50% of the equity in the project company Concesionaria Purepecha, S.A. de C.V in 2008.