Tijuana, Baja California – The elevated viaduct that promises to stitch together the airport corridor and the coast is getting engineering tweaks near Playas de Tijuana. Governor Marina del Pilar confirmed the changes and acknowledged the schedule now points to late 2025 or the start of 2026. The route spans more than ten kilometers and, once open, officials say the drive will take about twelve minutes.
The governor said the project carries an estimated investment of ten billion pesos. She also asked drivers to be patient, warning that border traffic at the Tijuana–San Ysidro crossing will occasionally slow while work continues.
What changed near Playas
State officials said field engineers found ground conditions near Playas that required adjustments to the original layout. The specific alterations were not detailed publicly, but the explanation points to routine geotechnical reality: once teams are in the canyon and coastal soils, designs often need refinement.
Planning documents and federal summaries describe the scheme as a hybrid of elevated roadway, bridges, and tunnels. A federal project brief lists a total length of around 10.5 kilometers, including approximately 6.6 kilometers of viaduct, two bridges, and twin tunnel segments, plus short at-grade links. Those details help explain why terrain can force revisions without changing the project’s purpose.
Timeline, progress, and what to watch
Through late July, state officials repeatedly cited strong progress, including an 80% completion figure shared in briefings and coverage. Around the same time, the government and business groups were still projecting a handover by late 2025 or the first part of 2026. The fresh timeline shared this week stays within that window.
Work on big structures is rarely linear. In late July, the local builders’ chamber suggested poor communication between contractors and agencies may have contributed to a worksite incident that injured two people, prompting a closer look at site coordination. That episode underscores why officials say the schedule includes safety buffers.
What this link changes for daily travel
If the project delivers what planners promise, the viaduct should pull long-haul and airport-bound traffic off overloaded surface streets. For drivers who now snake through the river corridor and the coastal highway, a direct, limited-access span could cut mid-day trips to one predictable hop. The goal is to reduce stop-and-go near the port of entry and provide relief for neighborhoods that absorb detours today.
The technical mix matters for that reliability. With elevated segments, bridges, and tunnels working as one system, the corridor avoids choke points and signals. Federal materials emphasize that this design aims to reduce both travel time and noise and air pollution on adjacent streets.
The bottom line
The Tijuana elevated viaduct is still headed for a ribbon-cutting in the late-2025 to early-2026 window, but only after design shifts near Playas to match the ground underfoot. For now, the message from the state is simple: expect some traffic pain, watch for closures, and hold them to the promise of a faster, cleaner 12-minute connection once the work is done.
