Puerto Rico Highway 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 Salinas, the road turns north to cut through the Cordillera Central in its approach to San Juan. Before reaching San Juan, it climbs to make its way to the mountain town of Cayey and then it winds down into the city of Caguas on its final approach to San Juan.[3]
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Puerto Rico DTPW | ||||
| Length | 128.1 km[1][2] (79.6 mi) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  | |||
| North end | Calle Tanca in San Juan Antiguo | |||
| Location | ||||
| Municipalities | Ponce, Juana Díaz, Santa Isabel, Salinas, Aibonito, Cayey, Cidra, Caguas, Guaynabo, San Juan | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
PR-1 starts in Ponce and ends in San Juan. The route connects important cities such as Salinas, Cayey, and Caguas.
In Ponce, PR-1 intersects PR-2 and PR-52. One of the major roads in Ponce that PR-1 does not intersect is PR-10, which is accessible via an alternate route (PR-5506) through Mercedita Airport. A sign on PR-1 alerts drivers on where to get off to access PR-10.
PR-1 passes through a small portion of the central town of Cidra, merely off the border with Cayey; the exit from PR-52 to Guavate is less than 1 hectometer from the town, and going north all structures and buildings off the road on the right are in Cayey, while the road itself and everything on the left is in Cidra until it enters Caguas just passing the junction with PR-787, which connects PR-1 to the rest of Cidra. This means that Cidra can be reached quickly from the main tollway (PR-52) via Exit 32 to Guavate.
PR-1 is an undivided two-lane road, with some exceptions. In Ponce, it is a six-lane divided highway in its intersection with PR-578 and PR-2 in Sabanetas. There is a short segment in Cayey where PR-1 is also a divided highway. It becomes a divided road once again from Caguas to San Juan at a sector known as "La Muda".
PR-1 is roughly parallel to PR-52 throughout its entire length. Prior to PR-52's inauguration, PR-1 was the route of choice from traveling between Ponce and San Juan.
Signing
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PR-1 is signed "PR-1 East" in the segment that travels from Ponce to Salinas, and then signed "PR-1 North" in the segment that travels from Salinas to San Juan. Likewise, the road is signed "PR-1 South" in the segment that travels from San Juan to Salinas and then signed "PR-1 West" in the segment that travels from Salinas to Ponce.
History
Construction of what became PR-1 began with the building of the Carretera Central, started during the governorship of Miguel de la Torre (1822-1837). A small section from San Juan to Río Piedras was then started.[4] The Carretera Central proceeds south to Cayey along the route of the PR-1, then diverges, and was completed in 1887, taking over 50 years to complete.[5] The Road was also known as La Carretera Militar (The Military Road).[5] The modern PR-1 was opened on 10 March 1907.[6]
Major intersections
All exits are unnumbered.
| Municipality | Location | km[1][2] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponce | Primero–Segundo line | 128.1 | 79.6 | | Southern terminus of PR-1; one-way street; northbound access via Calle Reina Isabel |
| Segundo | 127.7 | 79.3 |  | One-way street | |
| Tercero–Quinto line | 127.3 | 79.1 |  | One-way street | |
| Río Portugués | 126.9 | 78.9 | Puente de los Leones | ||
| San Antón | 126.4 | 78.5 |  | Incomplete diamond interchange; southbound exit and entrance | |
| 125.3– 125.2 | 77.9– 77.8 |   | |||
| Vayas | 123.8 | 76.9 |  | PR-52 exit 99A; cloverleaf interchange | |
| Vayas–Sabanetas line | 122.6 | 76.2 |   | ||
| Juana Díaz | Río Jacaguas | 117.9– 117.8 | 73.3– 73.2 | Puente Juan Ponce de León[7] | |
| Capitanejo–Cintrona line | 114.3 | 71.0 |  | ||
| Santa Isabel | Boca Velázquez | 104.7– 104.6 | 65.1– 65.0 |  | |
| Santa Isabel barrio-pueblo | 102.9 | 63.9 |  | One-way street | |
| Felicia 1 | 102.0 | 63.4 | | ||
| Salinas | Río Nigua | 91.4– 91.3 | 56.8– 56.7 | Puente de los Poleos[7] | |
| Salinas barrio-pueblo | 90.8 | 56.4 |  | ||
| 89.8 | 55.8 |  | |||
| Lapa | 89.2 | 55.4 | | PR-52 exit 65 | |
| Aibonito | Cuyón | 69.1 | 42.9 |  | |
| Cayey | Pedro Avila–Pasto Viejo line | 66.0 | 41.0 |  | The Ruta Panorámica continues toward Aibonito |
| Sumido–Matón Arriba line | 61.1 | 38.0 |  | The Ruta Panorámica continues toward Guayama | |
| Matón Arriba | 60.3 | 37.5 |   | ||
| Quebrada Arriba–Monte Llano– Cayey barrio-pueblo tripoint | 58.4 | 36.3 |  | ||
| Monte Llano–Cayey barrio-pueblo line | 55.5 | 34.5 | | The Carretera Central continues toward Aibonito | |
| 55.3 | 34.4 |  | The Carretera Central continues toward Cidra | ||
| Vegas | 53.6 | 33.3 |  | The Carretera Central continues toward Cidra | |
| Cidra | Beatriz | 50.4 | 31.3 |  | |
| Caguas | Quebrada Las Quebradillas | 41.0 | 25.5 | Puente Las Quebradillas[7] | |
| Turabo | 37.5 | 23.3 |  | ||
| Caguas barrio-pueblo | 36.9– 36.8 | 22.9– 22.9 |   | ||
| 36.5 | 22.7 |  | |||
| 35.9 | 22.3 |  | |||
| 35.3 | 21.9 |  | One-way street | ||
| 35.0 | 21.7 |  | One-way street; westbound access via Calle Segundo Ruiz Belvis | ||
| 34.5– 34.4 | 21.4– 21.4 |  | |||
| 34.0– 33.9 | 21.1– 21.1 |  | |||
| 33.3– 33.2 | 20.7– 20.6 | | |||
| Bairoa | 32.2 | 20.0 |  | Trumpet interchange | |
| 31.6 | 19.6 | | PR-52 exits 14, 15, 15A and 15B; partial cloverleaf interchange | ||
| 30.5 | 19.0 |  | The Carretera Central continues toward Guaynabo | ||
| Río Cañas | 28.9 | 18.0 | | One-way street; southbound access at km 29.3; the Carretera Central continues toward Caguas | |
| 28.5 | 17.7 | | The Carretera Central continues toward Guaynabo | ||
| 27.9 | 17.3 |  | |||
| 26.1 | 16.2 |  | |||
| San Juan | Quebrada Arenas | 25.9 | 16.1 | | One-way street; southbound access at PR-797; the Carretera Central continues toward Caguas |
| Guaynabo | Río | 23.3 | 14.5 |   | The Carretera Central continues toward San Juan |
| 21.3 | 13.2 |  | |||
| 21.0 | 13.0 |  | The Carretera Central continues toward Caguas | ||
| San Juan | Tortugo | 19.3 | 12.0 |  | The Carretera Central continues toward San Juan |
| Caimito | 17.6– 17.5 | 10.9– 10.9 |  | Partial cloverleaf interchange | |
| Monacillo–Monacillo Urbano line | 16.4 | 10.2 |  | Partial cloverleaf interchange | |
| Monacillo Urbano | 15.0– 14.6 | 9.3– 9.1 |  | No access to PR-52 from northbound | |
| El Cinco | 13.3– 12.9 | 8.3– 8.0 |   | ||
| 12.5 | 7.8 |  | One-way street; southbound access at km 12.9; the Carretera Central continues toward Guaynabo | ||
| Río Piedras | 12.3 | 7.6 | Puente de Río Piedras[7] | ||
| Hato Rey Sur | 12.1– 12.0 | 7.5– 7.5 |  | ||
| 10.8 | 6.7 |  | Partial cloverleaf interchange | ||
| Hato Rey Norte | 9.3 | 5.8 |  | ||
| 9.0 | 5.6 |  | |||
| Santurce | 6.4– 6.2 | 4.0– 3.9 |  | PR-22 exits 1A and 1B; partial cloverleaf interchange | |
| 5.5– 5.4 | 3.4– 3.4 |   | Partial cloverleaf interchange; no access to PR-2 eastbound from southbound | ||
| 3.4 | 2.1 |    | Southern terminus of PR-25 concurrency; PR-25 southbound access via PR-16; the Carretera Central continues toward Santurce | ||
| Caño de San Antonio | 3.2 | 2.0 | Puente San Antonio and Puente Guillermo Esteves[7] | ||
| San Juan Antiguo | 3.1 | 1.9 |  | Northern terminus of PR-25 concurrency; northbound access via PR-25P; the Carretera Central continues toward San Juan | |
| 0.0 | 0.0 | Calle Tanca – San Juan | Northern terminus of PR-1 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
References
- Google (29 March 2020). "PR-1 north" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- Google (29 March 2020). "PR-1 south" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works. "Datos de Transito 2000-2009" (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2019.
- Historia de la capital de Puerto Rico by Francisco M. Zeno, pg. 95
- Historia de Puerto Rico. Paul Gerard Miller. Capitulo XX. Desarrollo Economico Durante el Siglo XIX. p. 326. New York: Rand McNally. 1922.
- De San Juan a Cayey en carro público. Toñito Zayas. El Nuevo Día. 15 February 2014. Photo Number 6. Photo Caption. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- Luis F. Pumarada O’Neill (1991). "Los Puentes Históricos de Puerto Rico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
External links
