National Primary Route 4, or Route 4, is a national primary road, which covers the northern region of the country, through the provinces of Limón, Heredia, Alajuela and Guanacaste. The (North Atlantic Drive) is made from the section between Guápiles and

Limón Limón (), commonly known as Puerto Limón, is a district, the capital city and main hub of Limón province, as well as of the Limón canton in Costa Rica. It is the seventh largest city in Costa Rica, with a population of over 55,000, and is ho ...

of the Route 32, and this route. It allows direct travel between the Caribbean coast of the country to the northwest canton of La Cruz in

Guanacaste Province Guanacaste () is a province of Costa Rica located in the northwestern region of the country, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Alajuela Province to the east, and Puntarenas Province to the southeast. I ...

Description

Route 4 covers the north provinces of the country, and allows to travel between the Pacific Ocean districts and the Caribbean side of the country without going through the Greater Metropolitan Area at the central valley. Together with Route 32, it forms the northwest end of the (North Atlantic Drive), which allows to traverse the country from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean sea. According to

National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(LANAMME) at the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro M ...

, Route 4 is not safe for the high vehicular traffic expected, and an intervention is required for further safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and inhabitants of the small villages along the road. 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 San Carlos canton ( Florencia,

Aguas Zarcas Aguas Zarcas is a district of the San Carlos canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central Am ...

, Pital, La Fortuna,

La Palmera La Palmera, originally Padre Staples Mall, is an indoor and open-air super-regional shopping mall located along the shopping corridor of South Padre Island Drive at Staples St. in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. It has over 100 mainline stor ...

Venado Venado is a town and municipality in San Luis Potosí in central Mexico. The name in Spanish means ''deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, includi ...

, Cutris,

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 ...

districts),

Upala Upala is a district of the Upala canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. History Upala was granted the title of "ciudad" (city) by a law of May 4, 1970. Geography Upala has an area of km² and an elevation of metres. It is in the ...

canton (

, San José o Pizote, Delicias, Dos Ríos, Yolillal districts),

Guatuso Guatuso is a canton in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Toponymy It is named for the region's original inhabitants, an indigenous tribe whose survivors are now known as the Maleku and remain as residents of the area. History Guatuso was ...

canton ( San Rafael, Buenavista, Katira districts), Río Cuarto canton ( Santa Rita district). In Heredia province the route covers Sarapiquí canton ( Puerto Viejo, La Virgen, Horquetas districts). In Guanacaste province the route covers La Cruz canton ( La Cruz,

Santa Cecilia Santa Cecilia is a municipality and town located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members ...

, Garita districts). In

province the route covers Pococí canton ( Guápiles district).

History

Road construction from Bajos de Chilamate to Vuelta de Kooper

This is a segment planned since 1973, but construction started until 2013 and was opened in August 2017, it directly connects the then two endpoints of Route 4, at Bajos de Chilamate in Heredia province and Vuelta de Kooper in Alajuela province with a road of 27 km, single lane in each direction, and avoids the previous longer journey of 87.32 km which went through Route 126, Route 140, Route 250 and Route 751, and the towns of La Virgen, San Miguel, Venecia and Aguas Zarcas. This last segment finally concludes the construction of the originally planned Route 4. The new section road includes eight major bridges, five junctions at ground level and five elevated bypasses. Works were financed by Development Bank of Latin America, the central government and municipalities of San Carlos, Grecia, Sarapiquí and the regional North Huetar Special Economic Zone. CR RNP 4 old route

References

{{Road Transport in Costa Rica Road transport in Costa Rica