Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works
The Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP; es, Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas)— is the Executive Department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that regulates transportation and public works in Puerto Ric ...
implemented a major renumbering of its insular highways. Before 1953, highway routes were numbered in the 1 to just over 100 range and were distributed randomly throughout the island, resulting in several routes with long road lengths. The numbering system adopted in 1953, which is in use today, increased the range of route numbers from the just-over-100 to 999, resulting in a decrease in the length of many routes. This new numbering system follows a grid pattern for highways numbered between 100 and 999, with the lower numbered roads found to the west and systematically increasing towards 999 as the traveler moves easterly. Although
PR-1
Puerto Rico Highway 1 (PR-1) is a highway in Puerto Rico that connects the city of Ponce to San Juan. Leaving Ponce, the road heads east and follows a somewhat parallel route along the southern coast of the island heading towards Salinas. At S ...
,
PR-2
Puerto Rico Highway 2 (PR-2) is a road in Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Ponce. At 156 miles (230 km) long, it is Puerto Rico's longest singled-signed highway.
The road runs counter-clockwise from San Juan to Ponce. ...
and PR-3 routes had notable changes in some of their segments, these three are the only highways that kept their route numbers intact due to their interregional prominence.
History
The first major roadways in Puerto Rico were built by the Government of Spain. By 1898, the year when Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain to the United States, of roadways had been built. Additionally, were built between 1898 and 1908, more were added from 1908 to 1918, and were added from 1918 to 1927. By March 1928, there were 12 districts and some highway routes, particularly routes number 1, 2 and 3, crossed multiple districts. Some of the highways within the 12 districts included: