Puerto Rico Highway 10 (PR-10) is a major highway in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. The primary state road connects the city of
Ponce in the south coast to
Arecibo
Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, the ...
in the north; it is also the shortest route between the two cities.
Construction on the modern PR-10, a new highway, began in 1974. The highway is being built parallel to the old PR-10;
that road is now signed
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 ...
. Most of the new PR-10 is now complete, with an approximately stretch still remaining to be finished. In its current state it is a freeway only in the completed portions, which consists of over three-fourths of the highway.
In May 2010,
Autoridad de Carreteras estimated the road would be completed in 2015, at a cost of $500 million. Upon completion, the highway is expected to become one of the two major roads on the island that cross the
Cordillera Central mountain range. The first section of the road was inaugurated in the year 2000. After "more than 40 years" since the project was initiated, as of 22 January 2017, remained to be completed.
Route description
![Mapa de la carretera PR-10 en Ponce, Puerto Rico (M10)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Mapa_de_la_carretera_PR-10_en_Ponce%2C_Puerto_Rico_%28M10%29.svg)
PR-10 runs over the scenic mountains of the
Cordillera Central, providing magnificent views of the surrounding mountain tops in the distance. "The road is of first class construction throughout, and presents a panorama of magnificent scenery, rivaling the views of any of the famed roads of Europe."
Several sections of the new highway require the construction of bridges. The new road will reduce travel time.
Ponce to Adjuntas
![PR-10 Ponce](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/PR-10_Ponce.jpg)
PR-10 starts at
PR-5506, near
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 ...
, at the entrance to
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 cover ...
.
For its first four miles it runs in a northwesterly fashion, just north of the city of Ponce, bypassing city traffic. The road crosses barrio
Sabanetas, where it has an interchange with
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 ...
which leads to
Mayagüez and
San Juan. The road also crosses barrio
Machuelo Abajo
Machuelo Abajo is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Machuelo Abajo is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are ...
, where it has an interchange with
PR-14
Puerto Rico Highway 14 (PR-14) is a main highway connecting Cayey, Puerto Rico to Ponce, Puerto Rico. The road runs the same course as the historic Carretera Central. The Coamo-to-Ponce section of PR-14 was built under the direction of Spanish e ...
which leads to downtown Ponce and
Coamo
Coamo (, ) is a town and municipality founded in 1579 in the south-central region of Puerto Rico, located north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. Coamo ...
. The road then crosses barrio
Machuelo Arriba
Machuelo Arriba is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with the barrios of Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués, Montes Llanos, Maragüez, and Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba is one of the municipality's seven rural in ...
, where it has an interchange with
PR-505 which leads to downtown Ponce and barrio
San Patricio. Further west the road then crosses barrio
Portugués, where it has an interchange with
PR-503
Puerto Rico Highway 503 (PR-503), also called Carretera Tibes (Road to Tibes), is a tertiary state which leads south to downtown Ponce and north to barrio San Patricio and to barrio Consejo in southern
Jayuya
Jayuya (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the mountainous center region of the island, north of Ponce; east of Utuado; and west of Ciales. Jayuya is spread over 10 barrios and Jayuya Pueblo (the downtown and administra ...
. In the same interchange area there is also access to
which leads to downtown Ponce and to the northern areas of barrio
Portugués. The road then enters barrio
Portugués Urbano
Portugués Urbano is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, and San Antón, Portugués Urbano is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios tha ...
where it meets with the northern terminus of
PR-9
Puerto Rico Highway 9 (PR-9), also called the ''Anillo de Circunvalación de Ponce'' which leads to
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. ...
in Ponce's 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 ...
.
At this point PR-10 turns sharply north and heads into the mountains of barrio
Tibes
Tibes (''Barrio Tibes'') is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Magueyes, Portugués, Montes Llanos, Maragüez, Machuelo Arriba, Sabanetas, and Cerrillos, barrio Tibes is one of the municipality's ...
. Halfway through Tibes it intersects
PR-503
Puerto Rico Highway 503 (PR-503), also called Carretera Tibes (Road to Tibes), is a tertiary state . It runs shortly through barrio San Patricio before entering barrio
Guaraguao
Guaraguao (''Barrio Guaraguao'') is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Anón, Coto Laurel, Marueño, Quebrada Limón, Real, and San Patricio, and the coastal barrios of Canas and Capitanejo, Guaragu ...
. As it enters barrio Guaraguao, the road intersects with PR-515 which leads to PR-123, the old road between Ponce and Arecibo. Continuing on its northerly course, PR-10 then enters the municipality of Adjuntas via Adjuntas' barrio Portugués, the barrio where Ponce's
Río Portugués
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
has its origin. As the road exits Adjuntas' barrio Portugués and enters barrio Saltillo, it intersects with Puerto Rico's
Panoramic Route,
PR-143
Puerto Rico Highway 143 (PR-143) is a secondary highway that connects the town of Adjuntas to the town of Barranquitas.
Route description
Heading east from Adjuntas, PR-143 runs through the northern border of the municipality of Ponce, before ...
, which leads to downtown Adjuntas and
Barranquitas. As it continues north bypassing the town of Adjuntas, PR-10 intersects with PR-521 leading to downtown Adjuntas and to PR-143. The road continues north but shortly thereafter it comes to an abrupt end as a freeway, and
motorist
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to fol ...
s must detour by exiting into the narrower PR-5516. After a negligible run south on PR-5516, a road signed PR-5518 is used to continue the detour into the old PR-10,
[ now signed PR-123, and which will continue to head north as the temporary route back onto the new limited access PR-10.
]
Adjuntas to Utuado
PR-123/PR-10 is a curvy road that leads to Utuado, the next town before the new PR-10's terminus in Arecibo. At this point the road is traversing some of the tallest peaks of the Cordillera Central. The road presents views of the mountains nearby, but probably not as good as those that can be seen traveling the new PR-10, as trees alongside the new road have been removed to make for a shoulder and an additional clearing next to the shoulder, and thus removing foliage that blocks the view of the nearby scenery.
PR-10 continues north intersecting with PR-135 that leads west to Lake Guayo, located between Adjuntas and Lares. It continues north for approximately 15 miles before reaching the new PR-10 again just before reaching the town of Utuado. In this stretch of the road, construction of the new PR-10 is visible, interchangeably to both the left and right sides of PR-123, as the new road carves its way through the mountains. Río Grande de Arecibo
The Río Grande de Arecibo (Arecibo River) is a river of Puerto Rico. The headwaters lie in the mountains to the south of Adjuntas. From there it flows north until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean near Arecibo. The tributaries lie along the side of ...
has its origin in this area and is visible mostly to the east of PR-123. In this stretch of the road, Puerto Rico Highway 123 intersects with PR-524, leading west to Jayuya. About one-half mile before entering the town of Utuado, PR-123 intersects with PR-603 which provides the access for motorists to re-enter the new PR-10 again. The new PR-10 bypasses downtown Utuado and heads towards Arecibo.
Utuado to Arecibo
PR-10 runs alongside Rio Grande de Arecibo for several miles. The road intersects with PR-111 which leads west to the town of Lares
Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these.
Lares ...
, in the lower Central Karst Zone, and east to downtown Utuado and on to Caonillas Lake west of Utuado. The roads continues north and it intersect the old road to Arecibo, PR-123. Further north the road also intersects PR-621 which leads to PR-146 and Dos Bocas Lake, a major source of hydroelectricity. Traversing the Central Karst Zone, PR-10 follows a course parallel to Rio Grande de Arecibo. A connection road, PR-6626 provides access to PR-626, which leads to various rural Arecibo barrios. Continuing north, PR-10 exits the mountain area, reaching Puerto Rico's northern coastal valleys, and intersects again with PR-123, in the area of San Pedro. Shortly after this point, the road becomes a divide highway. Further north, the road intersects with PR-651 for access to Hatillo. Another intersection, PR-652, provides access to the communities in the southern edge of the city of Arecibo, and leads to the Arecibo Observatory
The Arecibo Observatory, also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) and formerly known as the Arecibo Ionosphere Observatory, is an observatory in Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo, Puerto Rico owned by the US National Science F ...
. The road then has an interchange with PR-22
PR-22 (also part of unsigned Interstate PR2) is an long toll road in the north coast of Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Hatillo. The road is also known as the ''José de Diego Expressway'' (Spanish: ''Expreso José de Diego ...
, the main limited access highway on Puerto Rico's northern coast. A little over a mile later, PR-10 comes to an end as it intersects with 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. ...
.
History
First road
The history of PR-10 is closely linked 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 ...
(the old Ponce-to-Adjuntas Road) which predates it.
PR-123 dates to the late 19th century when it was built under the colonial government of Spain to connect the coffee-growing town of 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 ...
to the port city of Ponce as a farm-to-market road
In the United States, a farm-to-market road or ranch-to-market road (sometimes farm road or ranch road for short) is a state highway or county road that connects rural or agricultural areas to market towns. These are better quality roads, usually ...
.
When the PR-10 road started construction in the mid-1970s, the then Ponce-Arecibo Road, which used to be signed PR-10, was resigned PR-123 and the new road was signed PR-10. Today, PR-10 signs refer to the new road, whereas PR-123 signs refer to the old road. The old road is roughly parallel to the new PR-10. The exception to this is in the area between the towns of 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 ...
and Utuado, where construction of PR-10 is not yet complete and traffic is detoured to use the PR-123. In that area PR-10 signs identify the old road. Prior to 1974, the full length of the old road was, in fact, signed PR-10. This route signing can still be seen in some old street maps of the city of Ponce. PR-10 is an alternate route to PR-123.
Navigating the old Ponce-Arecibo road was very tedious as the road was engineered to run from mountainside to mountainside, following the contours of the mountains, and along the natural definitions of the course of rivers, to reach its destination. Driving was rather hazardous, especially for trucks.
New road
One of the reasons to build a new road was the expected use by large trucks which the old road could not accommodate. Also, as traffic on the old road increased in the 1950s and 1960s, that road started to show its limits. To ameliorate the situation, in 1974 the 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 ...
started planning for the construction this road to connect the cities of Ponce and Arecibo. While one of the main reasons to build the new PR-10 was to facilitate the movement of trucks in the mineral exploitation of the area, such exploitation met with considerable opposition from environmental advocates and today the road is being built to promote other types of socio-economic developments, such as those associated with the Port of the Americas.
PR-10 was inaugurated in the year 2000.
Cost
The new Puerto Rico Highway 10 is being built in three segments and, as of November 2010, only the middle segment remained to be built. The first segment, the road from Utuado to Arecibo was built at a cost of $120 million; the second segment, the road from Ponce to Adjuntas, was built at a cost of $80 million.
The remaining segment, from Adjuntas to Utuado, is partly complete. Due to the complexities of road-building in the remaining segment, this last segment is being built in nine phases. The first phase, consisting of 1.24 km of roadway, was completed at a cost of $7.9 million and opened to the public on 21 August 2009. Phases 2 and 3 were already also under construction at the time that the beginning of phase 4 was announced on 25 August 2010. Phase 4 will cost of $8.7 million. At that juncture, phase 5 was being readied for bidding. The last four phases were under engineering design in August 2010. The total cost of these last five phases (phases 5 through 9) is projected to be $179 million. During a 2013 presentation by the Puerto Rico DTOP
The Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP; es, Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas)— is the Executive department of the government of Puerto Rico, Executive Department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that r ...
, the last three Utuado-to-Adjuntas phases that were at that point in the design phase ("''etapa de diseño''"), and known as phases II, III, and IV (synonymous with former phases 7, 8, and 9), would cost $31.8M, $31.3M, and 34.5M, respectively, to build for a total cost-to-build of $97.6 million.
Travel time
The new road runs mostly parallel to PR-123, and for the area that is still under construction, motorists must use a stretch of PR-123 before reaching PR-10 again. The incomplete stretch will link Adjuntas to the mountain town of Utuado. It takes about half hour travel on PR-123 to reach the new PR-10 road, and about one hour and 20 minutes to travel the full length of the road from Ponce to Arecibo. Before the building of the new PR-10 highway, just the stretch from Utuado to Arecibo used to take one hour to travel; it now takes 15 minutes.
Possible addition of metal nets
On 8 November 2010, large rocks fell on a section of the new PR-10 in barrio Tibes
Tibes (''Barrio Tibes'') is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Magueyes, Portugués, Montes Llanos, Maragüez, Machuelo Arriba, Sabanetas, and Cerrillos, barrio Tibes is one of the municipality's ...
leading to a 24-hour closure of the highway. It was the second time that heavy rains had caused rocks to fall onto the highway in a period of a few months. Meanwhile, northbound traffic was detoured to PR-515
Puerto Rico Highway 515 (PR-515) is a short tertiaryPR-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 ...
, the old PR10-signed road. As a result, the Puerto Rico DTOP
The Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP; es, Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas)— is the Executive department of the government of Puerto Rico, Executive Department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that r ...
is assessing whether the area would be a candidate for the installation of metal nets that would minimize the possibility of further erosion.
Environmental concerns
The building of the new PR-10 was an issue of contention based on environmental reasons related to the effect on the virgin Cordillera Central. When a group of American corporations attempted to lease land from the Government of Puerto Rico to exploit nickel, copper and cobalt mines, a grassroots effort by Puerto Rican townspeople had the government turn away from the idea. The plan had its roots in a so-called ''Plan 2020'', the result of a study by a group of U.S. consultants eyeing economic regeneration for Puerto Rico at the expense of the environment.
The frequent rain and high humidity as well as the mountainous terrain of the area traversed by PR-10 make for a road building challenge for road engineers who have come to the use of recycled ground vehicular rubber tires as an innovative solution. The government calls PR-10 "Puerto Rico's first green road" for its use of recycled car tires to build the surface of the road.
Fate of the old road
No plans have been disclosed to close the old PR-123 after the new PR-10 construction project is complete, and PR-123 will likely serve mostly as a local route. Today, the old highway is signed as PR-123 in those stretches of the road where the newer PR-10 parallels it. As new stretches of the PR-10 road are completed and opened to traffic, the corresponding stretch of the old PR-10 road is being signed PR-123.[
]
Future
The new highway was anticipated to be completed by 2015 at a cost of $500 million, however remains incomplete at the present moment. When the new PR-10 highway is completed, travel time between Ponce and Arecibo will be significantly reduced. The new PR-10 provides a second safe route to cross the island from north to south, in addition to 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 ...
. Except for a stretch of road between km 13.45 and km 15.10, where the road is only two lanes wide, the road is either a three- or four-lane highway. The road is listed as part of the National Highway System.
Major intersections
See also
*List of highways in Ponce, Puerto Rico
This is a list of highways in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The list focuses on major, signed, roads in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico.List of highways numbered 10
Route 10, or Highway 10, can refer to routes in the following countries:
International
* European route E10
* European route E010
Argentina
* La Pampa Provincial Route 10
Australia Queensland
* Smith Street Motorway (Queensland)
* Scenic ...
*
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
PR-10 as it crosses Barrio Pellejas, in the municipality of Adjuntas
A three-lane section of PR-10 in the municipality of Adjuntas
PR-10 changing from a 2 to a 3-land road in barrio Tibes in the municipality of Ponce
010