Federal Highway 180D is the

toll highway A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

s paralleling Highway 180 in seven separate segments of highway. Three are in Veracruz:, the Libramiento de Cardel, the highway from Cardel to

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, and the Nuevo Teapa-Cosoleacaque highway. Four segments exist beyond Veracruz: one between Agua Dulce and Cárdenas, Tabasco, facilitating a connection from the city of

Coatzacoalcos Coatzacoalcos () is a major port city in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz, mostly on the western side of the Coatzacoalcos River estuary, on the Bay of Campeche, on the southern Gulf of Mexico coast. The city serves as the munic ...

in Veracruz; a bypass of

Villahermosa Villahermosa ( , ; "Beautiful Village") is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Tabasco, and serves as the Municipalities of Mexico, municipal seat (governing county) of the state. Located in Southeast Mexico, Villahermosa is an ...

; one connecting Champotón to

Campeche City San Francisco de Campeche (; yua, Ahk'ìin Pech, ), 19th c., also known simply as Campeche, is a city in Campeche Municipality in the state of Campeche, Mexico on the shore of the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico. Both the seat of the munic ...

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

; and another connecting the cities of

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida () is the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the eponymous Municipality. It is located in the northwest corner of the Yucatán Peninsula, about 35 km (22 ...

, and

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

. An additional segment, connecting the latter highway to

Playa del Carmen Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as 'Playa', is a Resort town, resort city located along the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad, Quintana Roo, Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's ...

, is officially part of Highway 180D, but is signed as Highway 305D.Datos Viales: Quintana Roo
SCT, 2017

Libramiento de Cardel

The bypass of José Cardel is considered part of Federal Highway 180D.SCT: Datos Viales de Veracruz
2016 This road connects two separate roads signaged as Highway 180, the Tamarindo-Cardel highway and the mainline between Poza Rica and the port of Veracruz. A significant portion of this bypass has been on hold since 2010, even though the Veracruz state government spent 154 million

pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

on it between 2010 and 2015. In December 2016, the SCT announced it would attempt to resume the Libramiento de Cardel and other unfinished road projects with the goal of finishing them by December 1, 2018, the end of

Enrique Peña Nieto Enrique Peña Nieto (; born 20 July 1966), commonly referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican politician who served as the 64th president of Mexico from 1 December 2012 to 30 November 2018. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party ...

's presidency.

Cardel-Veracruz

The highway between Cardel and the city of Veracruz, which opened on May 1, 1994, is operated by the Veracruz state government. The mainline toll is 55

for cars; this segment does not have a free alternative.

Nuevo Teapa-Cosoleacaque

The Highway 180D designation is also applied to a toll road between Nuevo Teapa and

Cosoleacaque Cosoleacaque is a municipality in the south-east zone of the State of Veracruz, Mexico. It is located about from the state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of . It is located at . Cosoleacaque borders to the north on Coatzacoalcos and Pajapan, to ...

in the southern portion of Veracruz. The road picks up where the Federal Highway 145D designation leaves off at Cosoleacaque and carries passengers to Highway 180 at Nuevo Teapa, crossing the

Coatzacoalcos River The Coatzacoalcos is a large river that feeds mainly the south part of the state of Veracruz; it originates in the Sierra de Niltepec and crosses the state of Oaxaca in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, flowing for toward the Gulf of M ...

on the , which opened to traffic in 1984. One toll plaza booth exists on the road, to the east of the bridge; it charges cars a toll of 19

Coatzacoalcos-Cárdenas

The only segment signaged Highway 180D in Tabasco begins almost immediately after crossing from Veracruz, at Agua Dulce. The Sánchez Magallanes toll plaza booth is located at one area where Highway 180 crosses the road, the only junction on the highway. Highway 180 transitions back into Highway 180D, ending the toll road, due west of Cárdenas. Cars are charged 65

to travel the entire roadway and 32

to travel either half. The CAPUFE-operated road opened in mid-1996 and has a length of . In 2014, a spill of some 80,000 liters of oil prompted the closure of the toll road.

Libramiento de Villahermosa

The Libramiento de

, bypassing Tabasco's largest city, opened on November 25, 2016. It is operated by Operadora de Autopistas de Villahermosa, S.A. de C.V. Cars are charged 52

to use the entirety of the road.

Champotón-Campeche

The Champotón-Campeche highway is operated by

Caminos y Puentes Federales Caminos y Puentes Federales de Ingresos y Servicios Conexos (''Federal Roads and Bridges and Related Services'', CAPUFE) is a federal government agency of Mexico that operates and maintains federally owned roads and bridges. It is part of the Secr ...

(CAPUFE) and has a total length of . Cars are tolled 63

to travel the entire route, 26 for the Villa Madero-Seybaplaya segment and 38 for the Seybaplaya-Campeche segment.

Route description

Highway 180D begins south of Campeche City, absorbing the local road Maestros Campechanos and immediately intersecting the Campeche Beltway (Periférico Pablo García y Montilla) with a full cloverleaf. Proceeding southwest, the next interchange is at Seybaplaya and is immediately followed by a toll plaza booth, the only one on the road.Tarifas Vigentes
CAPUFE, 31 January 2017 The road ends south of Villa Madero, and traffic proceeds down Highway 180 to Champotón.

History

In 2015, one lane of a toll plaza booth was rendered inoperable after a trailer's brakes failed.

Mérida-Cancún

Federal Highway 180D, also known in this stretch as the Autopista Mérida-Cancún or the Autovía del Mayab, is operated by Consorcio del Mayab, a unit of

Empresas ICA Empresas ICA is a construction company that was founded on 4 July 1947, by Mexican civil engineer Bernardo Quintana Arrioja. The company has built multiple landmarks, buildings, and facilities in Mexico, including the Estadio Azteca, the modern ...

which is also the concessionaire for Federal Highway 305D, a spur route to

. 8,000 cars a day use the toll road.

Route description

Highway 180D begins east of Mérida, at , splitting off from its non-toll counterpart, Federal Highway 180. Almost immediately, it has an interchange at the southern end of Yucatán State Route 53, connecting to

Izamal Izamal () is a small city in the Mexican state of Yucatán, east of state capital Mérida, in southern Mexico. Izamal was continuously occupied throughout most of Mesoamerican chronology; in 2000, the city's estimated population was 15,000 peo ...

, and an option to merge back onto Highway 180 toward Holca.Autopista Mérida-Cancún: Autovía
/ref> It proceeds east-southeast through rural Yucatán, with a toll plaza booth north of Pisté. It bypasses

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

, with access to the town provided by a full cloverleaf interchange with Highway 295. To the west is an oasis with a

Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expr ...

gas station and restaurants. It then edges to the east-northeast, roughly paralleling Highway 180 for the rest of its length. Highway 180D crosses into Quintana Roo north of Nuevo X-can in Lázaro Cárdenas Municipality. East of here is its interchange with Highway 305D and its toll extension, connecting to Quintana Roo State Route 5 to the north and

to the southeast. A toll plaza booth is located immediately east of the Highway 305D interchange. After the spur to Playa del Carmen, the road parallels Highway 180 until its merges with other roads. Travelers heading eastbound have the option to merge with non-toll Highway 180, which becomes Avenida López Portillo in Cancún, or to make a right turn and follow Quintana Roo State Route 180 toward Highway 307 with access to the

Cancún International Airport Cancun International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional de Cancún) is located in Cancún, Quintana Roo, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It is Latin America's third and Mexico's second busiest airport, after Mexico Ci ...

History

The Autopista Mérida-Cancún was formally opened on December 23, 1991, by President

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wor ...

. Operation of the road was a joint venture between Fomento de Infraestructura Turística, S.A. de C.V. (Fomintur) and Consorcio del Mayab. In 2011, Fomintur was declared behind on its payments, resulting in its dissolution. Ultimately, ICA was awarded the contract to operate the road. A provision in its concession allowed it to build a spur to Playa del Carmen, and in 2014, this spur, legally considered part of Highway 180D but signaged as Highway 305D (El Tintal-Playa del Carmen), opened, shortening travel times between the state of Yucatán and Playa del Carmen. As a result of the opening of the new road, the toll plaza was relocated 21 kilometers. In 2013, 200 teachers took over one of the highway's toll plaza booths, refusing to charge passing vehicles. In February 2017, Consorcio del Mayab raised tolls on the road. Vehicles are now charged a toll of 165

between Mérida and Valladolid and 285

between Valladolid and Cancún. Even prior to the toll increases, the highway was the second most expensive toll road in Mexico.

References

{{Mexican Federal Highways Mexican Federal Highways