After three years of protest, Sonoran toll booths turned over to federal authorities

After several years of protest, toll booths along Sonora’s most important interstate are now back in federal control.

Since 2018, many of those toll booths have been taken over by protesters who object to the high costs they impose on local motorists. That protest has spelled millions of dollars in lost revenue every month for the federal government.

But on Sunday, three of them were turned over to federal authorities, which came on the heels of another handover in Magdalena, according to a federal official and media reports.

An August deal to end the takeovers collapsed due in part to distrust from participants, who doubted that assurances to waive fees for residents and shut down the Hermosillo facility would become reality.

For Arizona visitors who may have grown accustomed to not paying the tolls, the change means having a few hundred pesos handy for trips to Sonora may be advisable.

Fronteras Desk is a KJZZ project covering important stories in an expanse stretching from Northern Arizona deep into northwestern Mexico.