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Federal Highway 40, (''Carretera Federal'', Fed. 40) also called the ''Carretera Interoceánica'' (Interoceanic Highway), is a road beginning at
Reynosa Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Metr ...
,
Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
, just west of the
Port of Brownsville The Port of Brownsville is a deep water seaport in Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas. Geography The port is the southern terminus of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The port is located near the river mouth of the Rio Grande and Lower R ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and ending at Fed. 15 in
Villa Unión Villa Unión is a city in northwestern Argentina and the main settlement of Coronel Felipe Varela Department with a population of 12,263. Overview The city is strategically located in the heart of the Bermejo Valley, 1,153 meters above sea leve ...
,
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...
, near
Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding ''municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of ...
and the Pacific coast. It is called Interoceanic as, once finished, the cities of
Matamoros, Tamaulipas Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and the municipal seat of the homonymous municipality. It is on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Br ...
, on the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
and Mazatlán on the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
will be linked. It passes through
Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
,
Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...
;
Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and highwa ...
,
Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
;
Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2021, the city's population was 735,340. The metropolitan population as of 2015 was 1,497,734, making it the ninth-biggest metropolitan area in the ...
;
Gómez Palacio Gómez (frequently anglicized as Gomez) is a common Spanish patronymic surname meaning "son of Gome". The Portuguese and Old Galician version is Gomes, while the Catalan form is Gomis. The given name ''Gome'' is derived from the Visigothic word ...
and
Durango City Durango City (, stp, Korian), officially Victoria de Durango is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Durango. The city, which is located in Northern Mexico has a population of 654,876 as of the 2015 census, and sits at an altitud ...
. The Monterrey to Durango City section is a four-lane divided highway. The rest of the road is a two-lane undivided road. Parallel to this highway, in some sections, runs Fed. 40D, a four-lane restricted-access
toll road 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 ...
. The
Cadereyta Jiménez massacre The Cadereyta Jiménez massacre occurred on the Mexican Federal Highway 40, Fed 40 on 12–13 May 2012. Mexican officials stated that 49 people were decapitated and mutilated by members of Los Zetas drug cartel and dumped by a roadside near the ...
occurred on 13 May 2012 along the road outside the city of Monterrey.


Route


Reynosa to Monterrey

From Reynosa, Tamaulipas, to La Junta, Nuevo León, the roadway is a 4-lane divided unrestricted access road. At La Junta the highway is separated into Fed. 40 and Fed. 40D. Fed. 40 continues as a 2-lane undivided road, passing through several small towns including: * Peña Blanca, Nuevo León *
General Bravo, Nuevo León General Bravo is a municipality located in the state of Nuevo León in northeastern Mexico. It is also the name of its municipal seat of government and main center of population. History General Bravo municipality and town is named after Nicolás ...
*
China, Nuevo León China is a municipality in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. China is approximately 60 miles northeast of Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city ...
*
Cadereyta Jiménez, Nuevo León Cadereyta Jiménez is the name of a city as well as of a municipality in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. The municipality of Cadereyta Jiménez is located in the central part of the state, 360 meters above sea level, at 25' 36" N latitude and ...


Monterrey to Saltillo

From
Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
, Nuevo León, to
Saltillo, Coahuila Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and hig ...
, Fed. 40 is a 4-lane divided unrestricted access road. The highway crosses the northern end of the
Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...
that divides Coahuila and Nuevo León.


Saltillo to Torreón

From Saltillo the road continues west as a 4-lane unrestricted access road. After the town of El Mesón, the road splits into the 4-lane toll Road Fed. 40D and a 2-lane undivided unrestricted Fed. 40. Both roads merge again in the town of 28 de Agosto and begin another section of 4-lane divided unrestricted highway. A few kilometers ahead is the road junction south to
Parras de la Fuente Parras de la Fuente () is a city located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Coahuila. The city serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding Parras Municipality, which has an area of 9,271.7 km2 (3,579.8 sq mi). At ...
. At La Cuchilla the road splits again into Fed. 40 and Fed. 40D. From there, one may take Fed. 30 to San Pedro, which eventually becomes a 4-lane divided unrestricted road and leads directly to northern
Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2021, the city's population was 735,340. The metropolitan population as of 2015 was 1,497,734, making it the ninth-biggest metropolitan area in the ...
. At the city of Matamoros, Fed. 40 and Fed. 40D merge again into a 4-lane divided unrestricted highway until one reaches Torreón. This section is the east-west section across the central
Mexican Plateau The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( es, Altiplanicie Mexicana), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the US-Mexico border ...
.


Torreon to Gómez Palacio

Torreon, Coahuila, and
Gómez Palacio, Durango Gómez Palacio is a city and its surrounding municipality in northeastern Durango, Mexico, adjacent to the border of the state of Coahuila. The city is named in honor of former Durango governor, Francisco Gómez Palacio y Bravo. As of 2010, the ...
, form a metro area. At Gómez Palacio, Fed. 40 merges with Fed. 49 that comes from the north. At Gómez Palacio one can choose between Fed's 40 or 49 and Feds 40D or 49D; both roads are 4-lane divided until the first toll plaza.


Gómez Palacio to Durango

At Gómez Palacio one can choose between the toll road and the unrestricted road. At
Cuencamé Cuencamé is a small city and the seat of the municipality of Cuencamé in the state of Durango, which is in northern Mexico. , the city had a total population of 9,848. City Cuencamé was originally a very small town formed by adjoining wild ...
,
Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...
, the roads splits: Fed. 49 continues south to
Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...
and Mexico City, and Fed. 40 continues west to Durango.


Durango to Mazatlán

This section of the highway crosses the
Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...
, and is narrow with many curves, particularly the portion known as the
Espinazo del Diablo The Espinazo del Diablo (Devil's Backbone) is a region of the Sierra Madre Occidental in the states of Sinaloa and Durango in northwestern Mexico. The region is known its natural beauty and biodiversity, including rare cloud forests, and for a s ...
west of the Sierra crest. It has recently been bypassed by the new Fed. 40D. The old Fed. 40 can take up to 8 hours to travel, while Fed. 40D should only take 3 hours. During the winter months there is the added danger of ice. When going eastbound, Mazatlán to Durango, after reaching the top of the
Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...
, Fed. 40 becomes more linear, and it goes through the towns of La Ciudad, El Salto, and El Soldado. It continues linear up to a point around 30 kilometers from Durango, and it again goes downhill with many curves. In all the downhill sections, the use of engine brake is advised.


Current developments


New highway

The improvement of the corridor between Durango and Mazatlán will shorten travel time between them by as much as 6 hours. The highway will pass through and over the Sierra Madre Occidental through 63 new tunnels and 115 new bridges. The most important is the
Baluarte Bridge The Baluarte Bridge ( es, Puente Baluarte), officially the Baluarte Bicentennial Bridge ( es, Puente Baluarte Bicentenario), is a cable-stayed bridge in Mexico. It is located between the municipalities of Concordia in Sinaloa and Pueblo Nuevo i ...
(finished in 2012), which is now the highest bridge in North America at 390 meters. The bridge is located at the border between Sinaloa and Durango states formed by the Baluarte River. The clearance from the river bottom is over , and at over long it is the highest suspension bridge in the world. The route from Mazatlan to Durango has 115 bridges, eight over high, and 63 tunnels nearly long in total. Security is expected to be greatly enhanced in this region, due to quicker access and mobility of the military. It was inaugurated by President Enrique Peña Nieto on October 17, 2013, and has been fully operational since then. The time to travel from Durango City to Mazatlan takes slightly under two and one-half hours.


References

{{Mexican Federal Highways 040
1040 Year 1040 ( MXL) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Nikephoros Dokeianos, Byzantine governor of the Catepanate of Italy, is murdered ...
Sierra Madre Occidental