National Secondary Route 126, or just Route 126 ( es, Ruta Nacional Secundaria 126, or ) is a
National Road Route of
Costa Rica, located in the
Alajuela
Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it i ...
,
Heredia provinces.
It connects
Route 3 and
Route 4.
Description
Starting at the downtown area of Heredia canton, at Route 3, this road goes through Heredia, Barva, Carrizal, and Varablanca slightly following the province limit between Heredia and Alajuela, until arriving to Route 4 at Bajos de Chilamate in Sarapiquí.
It allows access to the
Poás Volcano National Park when driving from Heredia, by turning at Route 120.
In the southern area of the route, near Barva canton, there are many coffee plantations, and further north in Varablanca there are strawberry orchards.
Making use of the eastern lowlands segment of
Route 32 and Route 4, this route connects the
Greater Metropolitan Area to the Caribbean districts, which is a recommended alternate route in case of emergency when there are landslides in the Braulio Carrillo national park section of Route 32.
In
Alajuela
Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it i ...
province the route covers
Alajuela
Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it i ...
canton (
Carrizal,
San Isidro,
Sarapiquí districts).
In
Heredia province the route covers
Heredia canton (
Heredia,
Mercedes,
Varablanca districts),
Barva
Barva is a district of the Barva canton, in the Heredia province of Costa Rica. The city is known for having a nice mix of rural and metropolitan landscape.
Toponymy
The name comes from Barvac or Barvak a cacique of the area around 1569, which ...
canton (
Barva
Barva is a district of the Barva canton, in the Heredia province of Costa Rica. The city is known for having a nice mix of rural and metropolitan landscape.
Toponymy
The name comes from Barvac or Barvak a cacique of the area around 1569, which ...
,
San Pedro,
San Pablo districts),
Santa Bárbara canton (
Jesús,
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional)
, webs ...
,
Purabá districts),
Sarapiquí canton (
La Virgen district).
Locations
Administrative regions covered by this route and their junctions at the
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
level.
History
An historic route in the country, an approximate route was used to export goods to Europe by the Spanish colonials.
Was partially destroyed by the
2009 Cinchona earthquake, reconstruction took five years and was concluded on 2014.
Among the major construction works in the route, the bridge over (Seca creek) was rebuilt from one to four lanes and new sidewalks, finishing in January 2014.
La Paz waterfall bridges
The scenic spot to overlook
La Paz waterfall, on the La Paz Grande river, is served by a bridge that has been destroyed two times, in 2003 the 65 years old original wood bridge fell due to heavy machinery transportation, a
Bailey bridge
A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. ...
was installed, which due to a torrential storm, was destroyed by the river in 2013. A new Bailey bridge was again installed, a meter higher than before, opened in September 2013.
References
{{Road Transport in Costa Rica
Highways in Costa Rica