CDMX Sinking: Why Sinkholes and Potholes Devour Millions Without Solution in 2026?
From the “Megabachetón 2025” to the recent sinkhole at Deportivo Gertrudis Sánchez in 2026, Mexico City faces a recurring nightmare of crumbling infrastructure. The constant emergence of potholes, cracks, and sinkholes continuously overwhelms institutional maintenance efforts, costing lives and millions of pesos.
Despite rehabilitation programs, the combination of intense rains – such as those experienced last Wednesday – low-quality materials, and technical planning failures leaves the capital in a state of vulnerability that affects pedestrians and motorists daily.
Alarming Figures: The Toll of 2025
The year 2025 marked a significant deterioration in road conditions. According to official data from the “Megabachetón 2025” program, 186,432 defects were identified and addressed across the city. During the first 70 days of this intervention model, crews repaired 154,465 critical points, adding to an additional 24,000 attended to before March.
However, the problem extends beyond the surface. The Unified Citizen Attention System (SUAC) reported over 15,000 citizen complaints about sinkholes in the first semester of 2025 alone. This crisis also came at a direct cost to the public treasury: during the same period, authorities paid approximately 340,250 pesos in compensation to motorists whose vehicles were damaged by potholes or open manholes.
Investments Under Scrutiny and Technical Failures
Government spending to mitigate this backlog is considerable, yet the results are questioned. So far in 2026, the capital government has allocated one billion pesos for patching and resurfacing in the 16 boroughs. However, residents in areas such as Iztapalapa, Tláhuac, and Benito Juárez report that repairs “didn’t withstand the first rains.”
Héctor Lases Mina, coordinator of the Transportation Infrastructure Committee of the College of Civil Engineers of Mexico, states that “precipitation accelerates deterioration when repairs do not meet technical specifications.” The expert adds that the problem is exacerbated by the lack of complete executive projects and the use of low-quality materials to cut costs, causing defects to resurface rapidly. This perception is shared by residents who claim things worsen after government work. “They came to cover the potholes, and now they are worse,” is a common complaint.
Gertrudis Sánchez: A Recurring Risk
An emblematic example of this crisis is the Deportivo Gertrudis Sánchez in the Gustavo A. Madero borough, where on July 10, a new sinkhole, approximately 8 meters in diameter, formed within the complex’s courts. Alarmingly, the collapse occurred at the exact same spot that had given way in 2023. Despite authorities announcing a comprehensive rehabilitation of the sports complex just three months before this new incident, the ground once again gave way, endangering the gymnasium and surrounding areas. Residents, who exposed the collapse via social media, are now collecting signatures to demand a specialized soil study, fearing a greater tragedy.
PAN Demands Transparency and Accountability
Given the persistence of floods and poor road conditions, the PAN caucus in the Mexico City Congress formally requested the local Comptroller’s Office to investigate the use of public funds. Deputy Laura Álvarez Soto asserts that there is opacity in spending, noting that 12 billion pesos were approved for the Ministry of Public Works and Services (Sobse) for the 2026 Annual Public Works Program. “It’s pure demagoguery; they don’t invest in drainage because those are works that aren’t seen; but what we do see are police and firefighters fixing problems in the sewers,” lamented the legislator.
In addition to the financial investigation, the PAN is requesting an updated Risk Atlas with the support of academia and experts, as well as high-quality hydraulic repairs instead of mere “patches” on the pavement, to prevent family assets from continuing to be affected by floods and road collapses.
