Route nationale 1 (RN1) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

, an overseas region and department of France in South America. The highway connects Cayenne with

Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (; gcr, Senloran di Maronni) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is one of the three sub-prefectures of French Guiana and the seat ...

and measures . The highway is the busiest road of French Guiana.

Overview

In 1863, road construction started on Route Coloniale 1 to connect Cayenne with Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. The road was built by prisoners of the

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

. Many prisoners died during the construction. In 1970s, the section connecting

Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...

with

Sinnamary Sinnamary is a town and commune on the coast of French Guiana, between Kourou and Iracoubo. Sinnamary was the second France, French settlement founded in French Guiana: the town was founded in 1664. Sinnamary lies on the Sinnamary River and is ...

was rerouted for the construction of the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...

. In 1999, the road between Balata and Maringouins was widened to a 2x2 lanes dual carriageway. In 2014, a grade-separated intersection with

Route nationale 2 The Route nationale 2 (N 2) is a route nationale in northern France. Route Paris-Soissons-Laon-La Capelle-''Belgium (N 6)'' History The N 2 was initially defined in 1811 as ''route impériale'' 2, running from Paris all the way to Amsterdam via ...

to Saint-Georges was opened. The busiest section is in Cayenne where 44,543 vehicles per day used the road in 2010.

Route

The highways begins in Cayenne. In Balata,

Matoury Matoury is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Matoury is a southern suburb of Cayenne, the ''préfecture'' and largest city of French Guiana. Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, th ...

, there is an intersection with Route National 2. The road continues to Kourou, makes a detour around the Guiana Space Centre, and continues to Sinnamary, Iracoubo, and finally ends in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. In Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni there is a ferry to Albina, Suriname.

Future plans

There are plans for a bridge connecting Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni with Albina. The bridge was on the agenda in a ministerial meeting between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and Suriname in November 2020. An interesting part about the bridge is that Suriname uses left-hand drive while French Guiana uses right-hand drive.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Roads in French Guiana