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Mexican Toll Roads

Started by US 41, February 17, 2014, 01:13:13 PM

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US 41

Mexico I noticed has some toll roads. I read that they are almost all owned by private companies. Looking on street view on Google Maps, it looks like these roads are pretty nice highways. The speed limit was 110 km/h, which I think is like 68 mph. One of these days I would like to go drive around in Mexico. I'm sort of nervous to go down there though because I can't speak Spanish. I don't know how many people can speak English in Mexico, I'm guessing not very many. If I got pulled over I don't know what I'd do since the cops probably only know Spanish. One of these days though I think I might go down there just for the heck of it and chance it. Does anyone know if they are going to build anymore of these toll roads? If they did that would be great!
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM


Brandon

I know precious little about these autopistas, and I really would like to know more about them.  I've followed more than a few of them on Google Streetview.  A few things I have noticed:

1. There are no exit numbers anywhere.
Is Mexico ever planning to have exit numbering on these?

2. Sometimes state borders seem to have checkpoints.
Is this typical in Mexico to have checkpoints at state borders?

3. They appear to have areas where you could feasibly use them for free with toll plazas only on the mainline.  No ramp plazas.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

corco

#2
QuoteI'm sort of nervous to go down there though because I can't speak Spanish. I don't know how many people can speak English in Mexico, I'm guessing not very many. If I got pulled over I don't know what I'd do since the cops probably only know Spanish.

You don't need to speak Spanish to deal with Mexicops- just give them a couple hundred pesos on site and hope they're real cops and not fake cops working for a cartel who like your ride.

QuoteIs this typical in Mexico to have checkpoints at state borders?

Mexico has military checkpoints in lots of places, some of those could be at state borders. If you're talking border area Mexico, you effectively have to clear customs once you get 50 clicks or so south of the border at a checkpoint there as you leave the independently regulated border zone.

US 41

I noticed there were a lot of phone booths along one of the autopistas. I don't remember if they were on 15D or 145D. I've been looking at a lot of them on Google Streetview. Not a toll road in Mexico, but I also followed Route 16 for quite a ways from Ojinaga, westward. My dream Mexican vacation would be to travel Route 16 to Chihuahua, then head south on 45 / 49D to Durango. Then I'd continue west on 40, go north on 15 and its autopista, all the way to Nogales. I hope I didn't lose anyone.
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

oscar

Do check the State Department advisories before you go.  They range from "no problema" to "it's a freaking war zone, don't go to this region unless you absolutely have to".  I did a trip in a border zone with a middle-level advisory like "drive only in the daytime, major highways only", followed that advice, and had no problem.

I encountered one military and one police checkpoint (neither at an estado border, both between Tijuana and Mexicali), and was waved through each.  In some places, the State Department warns that drug cartels set up their own checkpoints, but I don't know where if anywhere that's a real concern for tourists. 

Mexican auto insurance policies are mandatory (non-Mexican policies are worthless in Mexico) and can be pricey for short visits, so price that out before heading to the border.  Those policies can be purchased at AAA offices (at least for members) and other places on the U.S. side of the border, but look around for alternatives.

Quote from: US 41 on February 17, 2014, 04:58:43 PM
My dream Mexican vacation would be to travel Route 16 to Chihuahua, then head south on 45 / 49D to Durango. Then I'd continue west on 40, go north on 15 and its autopista, all the way to Nogales.
.
40D has a reportedly awesome new bridge, discussed elsewhere in this forum.  The discussion included the bridge's potential effect on the drug trade, and a macabre joke about the bridge being a wonderful place to hang rival gang members. 
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

SP Cook

From the few times I have been in Mexico, I would say this.

As with most such places, it divides into two parts.  The tourist areas, where the staff at the Holiday Inn speaks better English than the staff at the Holiday Inn in your home town, and the rest of the country, where English is limited and first world tourist facilities are rare.  However, you really only need to know a couple of words to dope out enough Spanish relative to roads.  Cops do tend to be corrupt, but that is universal. 

The toll roads I have been on are fine.  In good shape and all of that.  Unlike the US, they tend to end just outside a major town, forcing you to drive through the town on the streets, and then start back.  Remember that the oil industry belongs to the government, including retail, so there are only enough gas stations as needed.  If you pass one, there is not a competitor around the bend.  Sort of like post offices here.  One per every so many people.  Toll roads have service areas with the one gas station and several food vendors, and sometime a flea market kind of thing.  Tolls are high by local standards, so much of the traffic is trucks or buses (Mexican bus system is really good, far better than US, BTW). 

I have seen US plates deep in Mexico, but the people driving the cars are usually Hispanic.  The tourist books say that when the locals see a "Anglo" in a US plated car, they see an easy mark.  They also have a complex system with a cash deposit to insure you take the car back out of the country (Mexican taxes make it tempting for Hispanics to buy a car in the US for their relatives back home) and if you don't get all the stamps and seals, they won't give you your money back, plus the insurance issue.  Also, while the cars tend to be the same makes and models as in the US, they have, apparently, no emission controls at all, so if you needed a repair, even the local dealer won't have the parts relative to the computer controls or the exhaust. 

As to the roadblocks, it happens.  Kinda like a DUI checkpoint here.  I would be more afraid of the cops than the army.  Cops look like career guys who don't care what you think.  Army looks like teenagers who don't know how to actually fire the guns they were given.  No big deal either way, just show your papers and say thanks.  I was told on a tour bus one time that, because Mexico is so much more a cash economy, it cannot have an effective income tax, so government funds itself off sales taxes, which vary greatly from state to state, so there is often a checkpoint at a state line, serving the same purpose as Customs at an international border.  They are not interested in tourists, just locals, because, apparently going to the next state to save on the sales tax is illegal.


J N Winkler

Quote from: Brandon on February 17, 2014, 03:31:01 PMI know precious little about these autopistas, and I really would like to know more about them.  I've followed more than a few of them on Google Streetview.  A few things I have noticed:

1. There are no exit numbers anywhere.  Is Mexico ever planning to have exit numbering on these?

Not to my knowledge.

Quote2. Sometimes state borders seem to have checkpoints.  Is this typical in Mexico to have checkpoints at state borders?

To add to Corco's reply:  while some checkpoints are military (puestos de revision militar) and mobile, there are also permanent checkpoints at approximately the 30-kilometer mark inside national borders, and many states have permanent checkpoints run by state judicial police (Chihuahua has one at km 275 on Mex. 16 near Basaseachic, for example).  The attorney general's office (Procuraduría General de la República) and federal preventive police also frequently operate drug interdiction checkpoints on major through routes; I am unsure how permanent these are.

Quote3. They appear to have areas where you could feasibly use them for free with toll plazas only on the mainline.  No ramp plazas.

Also true.  However, frontage roads on many toll roads are often unpaved and possibly informal.




In regard to dealing with Mexican cops, I would suggest dealing with them in much the same way you would deal with American ones:  hand over your documentation with no back-talk.  Don't start the exchange with an offer of money:  you don't want to discover at this point that you are dealing with the only honest officer in the jurisdiction and that you have just added a charge of attempting to bribe a public official to whatever traffic infraction has prompted the stop.  Learn the traffic laws before you go (including English translations for typical Spanish sign messages), and try to follow the law whenever possible.

Mexican cops do occasionally cut foreign motorists some slack.  I once turned right on red after stopping in Chihuahua city (a maneuver that is legal in all fifty US states but illegal in Mexico), and a tránsito was on my tail right away.  I was let go without a ticket.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

US 41

Do Iphone's work (have cell reception) in Mexico? If so I could use Google translate if I had to talk to a policeman.
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

Joe The Dragon

Quote from: US 41 on February 22, 2014, 09:41:47 AM
Do Iphone's work (have cell reception) in Mexico? If so I could use Google translate if I had to talk to a policeman.

if you are ok with paying $15-$20 a meg for data


US 41

Is Mexico going to build more autopistas? If so where at?
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

jfs1988

Well, the place I found the most road construction last year was in the state of Chihuahua. In the southern part of the municipality of Chihuahua they were building bridge pillars and widening the highway. Im assuming they are building a downtown Chihuahua bypass. Mexico Federal Highway 45 & Mexico Federal Highway 16 connect in downtown Chihuahua, & since there is no bypass road, its prone to traffic congestion. MX 16 connects the border city of Ojinaga with Chihuahua, & the city of Hermosillo in the neighboring state of Sonora to the west.

New to Seattle

Quote from: Joe The Dragon on February 22, 2014, 02:21:06 PM
Quote from: US 41 on February 22, 2014, 09:41:47 AM
Do Iphone's work (have cell reception) in Mexico? If so I could use Google translate if I had to talk to a policeman.

if you are ok with paying $15-$20 a meg for data

I don't know exactly how it is in México, but in general when traveling abroad I try to purchase a prepaid cell phone card that I can load in my own phone. I forget how much I paid for TIM and then for Vivo in Brasil (I ended up using both because of friends), but I seem to remember each was on the order of $5 for 200 Mb or something.

Here's a discussion specific to MX from 2 years ago: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/americas-mexico/topics/prepaid-simcard-with-mobile-internet

Avalanchez71

Please leave your firearm and ammunition behind.  They will put in jail for a bullet.  Also you may want to hire a bodyguard if you go too far interior.

agentsteel53

Quote from: Avalanchez71 on June 03, 2014, 10:43:12 PMAlso you may want to hire a bodyguard if you go too far interior.

:-D

and drive a tank. 

just nuke the place from orbit; it's the only way to be sure.

or, you can realize that Mexico is not Syria.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

US 41

Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

agentsteel53

Quote from: US 41 on June 17, 2014, 02:35:46 PM
Is this route safe? I'm planning on going next summer. I really want to drive the new autopista from Durango to Mazatlan.

https://www.google.com/maps?saddr=Nuevo+Laredo,+Mexico&daddr=Mazatl%C3%A1n,+Mexico+to:Nogales,+Mexico&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=27.76133,-105.292969&spn=8.782236,15.644531&sll=39.766555,-86.441277&sspn=3.816808,7.822266&geocode=FbBHowEde_4Q-imPx8RBfxhhhjEc6dM-T0Rdcw%3BFQ-OYgEdUjuo-SnBNxhoQVOfhjGycjzxqsSkYg%3BFUKe3QEdBzhj-Smb6GOUuE7RhjHVSdM52sotxw&oq=nogales+&mra=ls&t=m&z=6

probably.  ask again before next summer.  I check the US state department's website before I go to Mexico to avoid the hotspot du jour, as conditions flare up and quiet down again quickly.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

getemngo

Quote from: agentsteel53 on June 25, 2014, 09:07:39 PM
Quote from: US 41 on June 17, 2014, 02:35:46 PM
Is this route safe? I'm planning on going next summer. I really want to drive the new autopista from Durango to Mazatlan.

https://www.google.com/maps?saddr=Nuevo+Laredo,+Mexico&daddr=Mazatl%C3%A1n,+Mexico+to:Nogales,+Mexico&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=27.76133,-105.292969&spn=8.782236,15.644531&sll=39.766555,-86.441277&sspn=3.816808,7.822266&geocode=FbBHowEde_4Q-imPx8RBfxhhhjEc6dM-T0Rdcw%3BFQ-OYgEdUjuo-SnBNxhoQVOfhjGycjzxqsSkYg%3BFUKe3QEdBzhj-Smb6GOUuE7RhjHVSdM52sotxw&oq=nogales+&mra=ls&t=m&z=6

probably.  ask again before next summer.  I check the US state department's website before I go to Mexico to avoid the hotspot du jour, as conditions flare up and quiet down again quickly.


I thought Durango was considered one of the least safe states?
~ Sam from Michigan

US 41

Online it acts like if you stay on the toll roads it is safe. Around Christmas I'm hoping to go on this route.
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

Jbte

I live in Zacatecas Mexico and been using the Durango-Mazatlan like 6 times since its opening in October 2013. In my case its safe to travel by toll roads (cuota), recent years (2013 and 2014) I have been to numerous highways in nortern Nexico, such in Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Nayarit and Sinaloa states without any inconvenient. US plates are common (mostly from Texas), driven by hispanics, but its rare to see any other white, asian of african-american driving over here (sorry if that sounds racist), but thats doesnt mean it would be a problem for you.

As today, August 2014, in my opinion its still not safe to drive in Tamaulipas state (except the north tip of Nuevo Laredo, wich I suggest to use only the toll route), and anywhere south and central of Michocacan state and central Guerrero state, which some internal conflicts keep going.

As for your plan, sounds great, I might suggest to use again the Durango-Mazatlan highway in backward direction, which you see a totally different scenery of the canyons, tunnels, bridges, jungle and forests, its worth the trip. The main problem its you can't stop at Baluarte bridge, but of course you can slow down. The largest tunnel (2 mile long tunnel) its my favorite part of that highway (not the bridge itself), there are 61 tunnels and over 120 bridges. Be careful driving in there, not exceed 65 mph because road conditions are not ideal, some sharp curves, there are potholes everywhere and some bumpy bridges (mexican engineer its not as perfect as in US, neither security measures). The toll cost of the entire lengh of that highway is aproximate 500 pesos (about 44 US dollars), be prepared with mexican peso cash, they don't accept iave systems or any other automatic payment yet.

If you have any questions about tourist places along your route, and natural places just send me a PM.
Cheers

US 41

Quote from: Jbte on August 06, 2014, 04:16:45 PM
I live in Zacatecas Mexico and been using the Durango-Mazatlan like 6 times since its opening in October 2013. In my case its safe to travel by toll roads (cuota), recent years (2013 and 2014) I have been to numerous highways in nortern Nexico, such in Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Nayarit and Sinaloa states without any inconvenient. US plates are common (mostly from Texas), driven by hispanics, but its rare to see any other white, asian of african-american driving over here (sorry if that sounds racist), but thats doesnt mean it would be a problem for you.

As today, August 2014, in my opinion its still not safe to drive in Tamaulipas state (except the north tip of Nuevo Laredo, wich I suggest to use only the toll route), and anywhere south and central of Michocacan state and central Guerrero state, which some internal conflicts keep going.

As for your plan, sounds great, I might suggest to use again the Durango-Mazatlan highway in backward direction, which you see a totally different scenery of the canyons, tunnels, bridges, jungle and forests, its worth the trip. The main problem its you can't stop at Baluarte bridge, but of course you can slow down. The largest tunnel (2 mile long tunnel) its my favorite part of that highway (not the bridge itself), there are 61 tunnels and over 120 bridges. Be careful driving in there, not exceed 65 mph because road conditions are not ideal, some sharp curves, there are potholes everywhere and some bumpy bridges (mexican engineer its not as perfect as in US, neither security measures). The toll cost of the entire lengh of that highway is aproximate 500 pesos (about 44 US dollars), be prepared with mexican peso cash, they don't accept iave systems or any other automatic payment yet.

If you have any questions about tourist places along your route, and natural places just send me a PM.
Cheers

Thanks. I probably will have some questions at some point. I'll send you a PM when I do.
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

US 41

Mazatlan now has a new toll bypass for through 15D traffic and it's on Google Maps. The Torreon / Matamoros (for 40D through traffic) bypass still isn't on Google Maps yet. They are also currently building a new toll bypass on the east side of Chihuahua (city) for 45 through traffic. A bypass around Reynosa has also been opened that connects 40D and 2D (its partially shown on Google Maps.
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

MrDisco99

Interesting how many of these toll roads, particularly the newer ones, are 2 lanes with half lane shoulders rather than a full 4 lanes.  Is the demand for these roads expected to be so low as to only justify 2 lanes?  Does it look like they're built with the potential to expend to 4 or more lanes?

US 41

Quote from: MrDisco99 on January 07, 2015, 08:07:10 PM
Interesting how many of these toll roads, particularly the newer ones, are 2 lanes with half lane shoulders rather than a full 4 lanes.  Is the demand for these roads expected to be so low as to only justify 2 lanes?  Does it look like they're built with the potential to expend to 4 or more lanes?

I think the demand for most of them is low. Most of the 2 lane toll roads are in the mountains. The Autopista Durango - Mazatlan is like this. However between the 2 suspension bridges the road is 4 lane. I assume that is so they can widen the whole thing from Durango - Mazatlan to 4 lanes if it is ever necessary. Plus they wouldn't have to build new suspension bridges.

The half lane shoulders actually make the road a 3 lane highway. If a car is wanting to pass, you simply move over into that half lane. Also I've read a left turn signal on a 2 lane highway tells the driver behind you that it is safe to pass. Then when they pass, they sometimes will turn on their right turn signal which tells you "thanks."
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

kphoger

Quote from: MrDisco99 on January 07, 2015, 08:07:10 PM
Interesting how many of these toll roads, particularly the newer ones, are 2 lanes with half lane shoulders rather than a full 4 lanes.  Is the demand for these roads expected to be so low as to only justify 2 lanes?  Does it look like they're built with the potential to expend to 4 or more lanes?

They are built where traffic is heavy enough that a two-lame road isn't sufficient, but there isn't enough money for a four-lame highway. I have seen them upgraded to four lanes (specifically the outer bypass of Nuevo Laredo), but I'm not sure if that's ever the actual intent.

As had been mentioned, A2 highways have that wide shoulder in order to facilitate passing. In flat terrain, it's no big deal, but it can get a little hairy when you add hills and curves (the northwestern toll bypass of Saltillo between Hwys. 57 and 40, for example, can be a pants-pooping ride.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.



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