Puerto Rico Highway 52 (PR-52), a major

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 ...

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 ...

, is also known as ''Autopista Luis A. Ferré''. It was formerly called ''Expreso Las Américas''. It runs from

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 ...

in southwest

Río Piedras 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 ...

and heads south until it intersects with highway

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. At its north end, the short PR-18 continues north from PR-52 towards San Juan. This short segment is known as ''Expreso Las Americas'', the only segment of the route still unofficially bearing this name, since PR-18 is officially named ''

Roberto Sánchez Vilella Roberto Sánchez Vilella (19 February 1913 – 24 March 1997) was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1965 to 1969. Sánchez Vilella successfully ran for governor in the 1964 elections for the ''Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, Partido Po ...

Expressway''. The combined route of PR-18 and PR-52 runs

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with the unsigned

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

PRI-1. Toll stations are located in San Juan,

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founded ...

, Salinas,

Juana Díaz Juana is a Spanish female first name. It is the feminine form of Juan (English John), and thus corresponds to the English names Jane, Janet, Jean, Joan, and Joanna. Juanita is a common variant. The name Juana may refer to: People *Juana I (14 ...

, and Ponce.

Route description

Mapa de la carretera PR-52 en Ponce, Puerto Rico (M52)

PR-52 is Puerto Rico's longest and second most traveled tollway. The road is mostly a 2-lane road in each direction. The section between the Caguas toll and the town of Salinas crosses the Cordillera Central, resulting in a more curvy and hilly section than the other sections of the highway. It also experiences more fog and lower visibility than the rest of the road due to the altitude. The speed limit is also reduced in the area. One of Puerto Rico's only 2

rest areas A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, Limited-access road, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names i ...

is located on this expressway
map
The other rest area is located on

PR-53 Puerto Rico Highway 53 (PR-53) or unsigned Interstate PR3 is a main tollway that is parallel to Puerto Rico Highway 3, which goes from Fajardo to Salinas. Some segments are still in planning, but when finished it will be about in length. Two ...

(northbound only) near

Humacao Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

/Naguabo municipality border although it is signed as a scenic zone and thus just like the rest area on PR-52, it has no facilities
map
The rest area, however, has no relief, vending, or service facilities such as a restaurant or a gas station. The rest area does include an important monument, the

Monumento al Jíbaro Puertorriqueño The Monumento al Jíbaro Puertorriqueño (Monument to the Puerto Rican Countryman) is a monument built by the Government of Puerto Rico to honor the Puerto Rican Jíbaro, located on Puerto Rico Highway 52, km 49.0, Barrio Lapa, Salinas, Puerto R ...

. The whimsical

Tetas de Cayey Cerro Las Tetas, nicknamed Las Tetas de Cayey but Official, officially Las Piedras del Collado, are two mountain peaks located in the municipality of Salinas, Puerto Rico, north of the city of Salinas proper. Since September 1, 2000, the peaks ha ...

are visible from this rest area as well. Cayey landscape from PR-52.JPG, View from PR-52 in Cayey PR-52 near Salinas, Cayey with rainbow.jpg, PR-52 near

Cayey Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Sal ...

and Salinas Mon al jibaro2.JPG, The

and Las Tetas de Cayey PR-52 passes extremely close to the central town of Cidra between approximately kilometer markers 34 and 30. In fact, Exit 32 to Guavate is so close to the Cidra border that once the exit is taken and instead of going south to Guavate and Patillas through PR-184, going north it quickly ends at PR-1 and a welcome sign to Cidra is shown. The tollway itself never enters Cidra itself, but PR-1 (the parallel road from Ponce to San Juan) does. The speed limit from San Juan to Caguas is . From Caguas to Salinas, it is , and from Salinas to Ponce, it is . Puerto Rico Highway 52.jpg, Puerto Rico Highway 52 Puerto Rico Highway 52, PR-52, heading north, near the town of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico.jpg, PR-52 near Santa Isabel Letras de PONCE, PR-52 southbound, Barrio Sabanetas, Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking southwest (DSC05090Z).jpg, PR-52 southbound entering Ponce

History

The building of this ''Guía de Carreteras Principales, Expresos y Autopistas.'' (In Spanish) Puerto Rico Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportacion (ACT).
/ref> expressway took place during the administration of governor

Luis A. Ferré Don Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo (February 17, 1904 October 20, 2003) was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973. He was the founder of the ...

, who was trained as a civil engineer himself. It was built at a cost of $125 million. PR-52 was Puerto Rico's first toll road ever. Construction for this road started in October 1968 during the administration of governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella, also a trained engineer, and continued during Luis Ferre's tenure. It was then named ''Autopista Las Americas'', and it was planned to run from San Juan to Ponce. On 9 December 1993, Law 118 was enacted which renamed the roadway ''Autopista Luis A. Ferre''. The expressway is currently the longest in the island, but this will change when the 83-km-long

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 ...

extends to Aguadilla. In March 1969 the roadway became a tolled expressway. The Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority reports that tolls were added to the highway to speed up its construction. The road was completed in 1975 during the first administration of governor Rafael Hernández Colón.Legends of Puerto Rico
On 22 July 2019, more than half a million Puerto Ricans shut down PR-52 demanding the resignation of the then governor,

Ricardo Rosselló Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares (; born March 7, 1979) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2017 to 2019. He resigned on August 2, 2019, after protests related to the Telegramgate scandal. He is the s ...

, following a leaked

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

chat between the governor and several members of his cabinet.

Tolls

Exit list

References

External links