Puerto Rico Highway 9 (PR-9), also called the ''Anillo de Circunvalación de Ponce''''Abre de forma parcial puente de la PR-2.''
Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce Puerto Rico. Year 30. Issue 1506. Page 4. (Name in printed edition: "Tras dos anos de obras: Abre de formal parcial nuevo tramo de la PR-2.") 10 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012. (Ponce's Circumferential Highway), is a

limited-access A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

state highway located entirely within the limits of the municipality of

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, and connecting

Puerto Rico Highway 10 Puerto Rico Highway 10 (PR-10) is a major highway in Puerto Rico. The primary state road connects the city of Ponce in the south coast to Arecibo in the north; it is also the shortest route between the two cities. Construction on the modern PR- ...

in Barrio Portugués in the north to

Puerto Rico Highway 52 Puerto Rico Highway 52 (PR-52), a major toll road in Puerto Rico, is also known as ''Autopista Luis A. Ferré''. It was formerly called ''Expreso Las Américas''. It runs from PR-1 in southwest Río Piedras and heads south until it intersects wit ...

in barrio

Canas Canas or Cañas may refer to: Places * Canas (Lycia), a town of ancient Lycia, now in Turkey * Amatlán de Cañas, a municipality in Nayarit, Mexico * Cañas Canton, in Guanacaste province, Costa Rica * Cañas, Costa Rica, capital of the Cañas (ca ...

in the south, crossing Barrio

Magueyes Magueyes is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba, Maragüez, Montes Llanos, Portugués, Sabanetas, and Tibes, Magueyes is one of the municipality's eight interior barrios. ...

. The ''Oficina de Ordenación Territorial'' (Office of Territorial Ordering) of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce calls this road ''Ronda de Circunvalación Roman Baldorioty de Castro'' (Roman Baldorioty de Castro Beltway). The roadway is still under construction.

Route description

PR-9 near Barrio Portugues exit in Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking west (IMG-2718)

PR-9 is still partly under construction. The construction work has thus far (November 2019) yielded the extreme northern segment and a portion of the southern segment, with the middle segments still to be built. The road currently runs mostly northwest of the city as well as small portion southwest of the city. The western segment is still being built. This last segment has a length of 4.23 kilometers. When completed, it will have the effect of creating a

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

around the city, given that PR-9 connects with

PR-10 Puerto Rico Highway 10 (PR-10) is a major highway in Puerto Rico. The primary state road connects the city of Ponce in the south coast to Arecibo in the north; it is also the shortest route between the two cities. Construction on the modern PR ...

at its northern extreme, and PR-10 already borders the city around its northern, northeastern, and part of the city's eastern edges. This beltway will have junctions with all major city highways: from

PR-52 Puerto Rico Highway 52 (PR-52), a major toll road in Puerto Rico, is also known as ''Autopista Luis A. Ferré''. It was formerly called ''Expreso Las Américas''. It runs from PR-1 in southwest Río Piedras and heads south until it intersects wit ...

and

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. ...

west of Ponce, to

and

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 ...

east of Ponce.

Construction

The building of PR-9 is taking place in several phases. Phase I, already completed, consisted of the stretch of the road from

in Barrio Portugués to

PR-123 Puerto Rico Highway 123 (PR-123) is a secondary highway that connects the city Arecibo to the city of Ponce. It runs through the towns of Utuado and Adjuntas, before reaching Ponce. A parallel road is being built, PR-10, that is expected to tak ...

in Barrio

. Phase II consists of the stretch between PR-123 at Barrio Magueyes to PR-132 in Barrio

. As of 18 August 2010, the Phase II stretch was in the planning phase according to Puerto Rico's Commissioner of Transportation and Public Works, Rubén A. Hernández Gregorat. Phase II is expected to cost $28 million.''Inauguran e inician importantes obras de infraestructura vial en Ponce.'' Comunicado de Prensa (Press Release). 18 August 2010. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Government of Puerto Rico. Departamento de Transportación y Obras Publicas.
/ref> The length of this section is 2.61 kilometers. It includes three bridges: one will cross Río Canas, a second bridge will be an overpass for

, and a third bridge will cross the access ramp to

. Phase III of PR-9 will run from PR-132 in Canas to PR-163 (with a connection to

Avenida Las Américas Avenida Las Américas, is a major thoroughfare in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Most of its length is signed as Puerto Rico Highway 163 (PR-163). The highway has both of its termini as well as all of its length entirely within the Ponce city limits. It ...

) in barrio Canas Urbano. It is expected to cost some $36 million. This section will have a length of 1.62 kilometers, and will also require three bridges: One will be an overpass to

at PR-163, another will be crossing

Río Pastillo Río Pastillo is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is also known as Río Marueño in the area of the municipality where it runs through barrio Marueño. Together with Cañas River, Pastillo forms Matilde River. Pastillo ...

, and the third will cross

PR-132 Puerto Rico Highway 132 (PR-132) is a secondary highway that connects the town of Guayanilla to the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The road runs through the town of Peñuelas before reaching Ponce. In Ponce, PR-132 starts where Calle Villa ends.El ...

. The fourth and last portion of this project, Phase IV will consist of a stretch between PR-163 (intersection with

PR-500 Puerto Rico Highway 500 (PR-500) is a tertiary road in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The highway has both of its endpoints, as well as all of its length, entirely within the Ponce city limits. It runs east to west. Route description The road has its ...

) and

via improvements to the existing 4-lane Avenida Baramaya roadway. Completion of this last phase will make it possible to circumvent city traffic altogether by providing a loop around the city of Ponce for motorists wishing access to areas north and northeast of the city from PR-2 in the El Tuque sector of barrio Canas. It will, for example, be possible to travel from Mayagüez to

Adjuntas Adjuntas (, ) is a small mountainside town and municipality in Puerto Rico located central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, north of Yauco, Guayanilla, and Peñuelas; southeast of Utuado; east of Lares and Yauco; a ...

without the need to travel on the eastern segment of PR-10 near

Mercedita Airport Mercedita International Airport (AIM, ''Aeropuerto Internacional Mercedita'') is a public use international airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The airport covers ...

, which is currently (July 2017) the case.

History

PR-9 is being built in three phases. The three sections,

, PR-123 to

, and PR-132 to PR-163 correspond to the three phases. Once a phase is completed, the corresponding section is put into service and is opened to traffic. For construction purposes, each section was further divided into segments.

Phase I

On 13 October 2000, governor Pedro Rossello inaugurated the last segment needed for connecting the section linking

, in barrio Portugues, to

, in barrio Magueyes, and consisting of 7.27 km, at a cost of $22 million.

Phase II

This phase started in September 2012, and it was originally scheduled for completion by December 2015. In December 2013, the section from PR-123 to PR-132 (known as Autoridad de Carreteras (AC)'s project number 000911) was projected for a 2014-2018 budget cost of almost $30 million. Various adjustments increased the original $30M cost to some $38.5M from 2012 to 2017. Additional 2017 delays were incurred after three landslide that occurred in the summer of 2017, requiring new analysis work to discover the causes plus the required additional design follow-up work to correct the discovered faults. By November 2019, it was reported the cost of this phase had increased to $56.5 million, "almost $20 million over the originally budgeted amount," much of this increased cost resulting from heavy damage by the 20 October 2017

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

, and a new end-of-work projected date of December 2021 was forecast. In January 2020, after the 7 January 2020 earthquake, the regional director of the Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportación stated that this section under construction had sustained damages from the quakes, and that its completion, which was already 49 months behind schedule, would now not be ready until December 2021 "at the earliest".''Por demolición del peaje: Tardará dos semanas la reapertura de la PR-52 en Ponce: La Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportación trabaja en la construcción de un carril central temporero en el tramo de la PR-2 en el sector Las Cucharas de Ponce, que ha sido impactado por frecuentes derrumbes.''
Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 15 January 2020. Accessed 4 February 2020.

Phase III

In October 2012, the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works revealed that the last track of PR-9, one that would connect PR-10 to PR-52 and consisting of 2.6 kilometers, was soon to commence construction at a cost of $46 million. Construction of PR-9 from

(PR-163) to PR-132 was AC's # 000915 and estimated at $40,325,706. In February 2015, the section from PR-123 to PR-132 was initially projected to cost $38.5 million and was planned to be ready in 2016.''Sin fecha para repavimentar la PR-10.''
Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 32. Issue 1629. Pages 6-7. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015. Weblink updated 12 May 2018. Project overruns, due to landslides and other unexpected factors, increased the cost of this section from $38.5 million to $41.7 million, and pushed the schedule opening date to February 2018. Also in February 2015, the last section of the road which would connect PR-132 with

, Avenida Baramaya, and PR-52, was planned to be built at a cost of $45 million. As of February 2014, this final section was scheduled for completion by early 2018. In May 2019, however, it was revealed by ACT that the project failed to meet the 2018 date due severe damaged caused by the September 2017

. The new projected opening date of one of the final sections of the road was moved to September 2020, and completion of the entire project was being projected for sometime in 2021.''Interminable el anillo de circunvalación.''
Eduardo L. Questell Rodríguez. Es Noticia. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 24 May 2019. (Printed edition
''Sin Fecha la Apertura del Anillo de Circumvalación.''
Eduardo L. Questell Rodríguez. Es Noticia. 24 May to 6 June 2019. Year 4. Issue 97. p. 5.) Accessed 28 May 2019. In November 2019, it was reported that 75% of the work required for Phase III had been completed and an estimated opening date of September 2020 was being anticipated. This phase has a length of 1.62 kilometers, and was being built at a cost of $46 million. In January 2020, after the 7 January 2020 earthquake and while discussing delays to phase II of the project (PR-123 to PR-132), the regional director of the ''Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportación'' stated that the PR-132-to-PR-500 segment under construction (Phase III) had sustained damages from the quakes. The segment connecting, which was already running two years behind schedule prior to the earthquakes and which was due for completion by September 2020, would now have a completion date based on the results of an evaluation "at greater depth" of the damages caused by the earthquake.

Major intersections

The five exits existing so far are

, PR-163 in the southwestern segment, and

and

in the northwestern segment. When completed, the road will have six exits in this sequence from north to south:

, PR-163,

, and

Notes

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline
Video of PR-9 Heading westbound, from to PR-10 to PR-123
009 Roads in Ponce, Puerto Rico Beltways in the United States