Baja Californa Road Report
July 14, 2007Hwy 1/19 La Paz to Los CabosBaja Insider
The four lane expansion continues between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas along Hwy 1 and Hwy 19 along the Pacific Coast route of the Baja Sur loop. Four nicely paved lanes now are complete from La Paz to the 1/19 Y. The exception is a new bridge over the vado just about 1 mile north of the Y.
The bridge construction of the piles has been completed and crews are now working just south of the roadway, prefabricating the beams for the bridge. The pieces will later be moved into place by cranes. A similar process is underway right within the pueblo of San Pedro. San Pedro used to be a series of speed bumps on the road to Todos Santos from La Paz. Pottery shops, roadside tacos, locals selling pitayas or queso are common and little tiendas lined the highway for not much more than a mile. I think when the four lane is completed it will alter the face of San Pedro into a place where dust collects from fast passing cars.
Another significant challenge to La Paz/Cabo driving is a construction of a new bridge at the Bordo Vado on Calle Forjadores (Hwy 1) just meters south of the cutoff for Pichilingue. They have already paved the by-pass to which traffic will be diverted shortly. The vado is nearly a Km wide and ALL commercial traffic and a majority of all traffic bound for the rest of Baja Sur will have to cross this detour then enter a traffic signal that is already congested.
For more information on how to purchase & print Mexican auto insurance online, please click here to visit Adventure Mexican Insurance Services at or click here for phone contact information.
Speaking of paving, they are resurfacing Hwy 19 between Cerritos and Cabo San Lucas. Three years ago this section was resurfaced with what I call the 'rice krispy cookie' technique, were aggregate is laid down, then tar applied and the process repeated. That section of highway was under construction for months. It also proved not very durable under the heavy traffic and high heat of that section of roadway. Everything consumed in Los Cabos travels that road. This time a paving machine is laying beautiful asphalt surface at the rate of about a 2 feet a minute. The road crews of closed 1 of two lanes for what seemed to be an inordinate distance of about 3 miles. Traffic is held in one direction for up to 15 minutes. Quite a line can build up in that time ad this can be particularly difficult in the southbound direction in which all the trucks are full. The 30 mph crawl that the pack is reduced to can often be reduced further when there are several heavy trucks in your convoy.
Construction on the 4 lane has begun from Todos Santo northward. Along the south side of the road clearing has begun. Unfortunately, one of the most ill-conceived Pemex stations has been constructed on the outskirts of Todos Santos. The new station is located on the headwaters of the freshwater feed to the city below. All gas stations leak, at very least from their parking apron. To add insult to injury here, the construction company pushed the building trash into the marsh are RIGHT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD in plain view. That's OK Pemex, there is lots of clean fresh water here in Baja Sur!
Click here for Phone Contact Information for Adventure Auto Insurance
In the middle of the stretch from the Y to Todos Santos is a restaurant named Bugunbillia and a cluster of homes. In this area the 4 lane work is in process as well and there is a detour off the road during weekdays of about 2-3km. This is driving over graded desert. There are places that will become quickly impassable when it rains, even a little Traffic is slow and the dust is high.
I have been driving the Baja Sur Loop back and forth to Cabo now for 6 years. There have always been a limited number of places to pass and fewer that many drivers would call safe. Over the years I have memorized al of these places and strategically plan my moves around convoys of trucks. on this last trip, so much traffic is using this road in the other lane, those rare passing locations often have on-coming traffic. Although the 4 lane construction is going to be much more painful before it gets better, it is sorely needed.
For years, the 1/19 route was faster for La Paz travelers to get to the San Jose del Cabo Airport. Today, With the increased traffic, construction and that southbound trucks are laden, I found the Hwy 1 route along East Cape, although longer, took exactly the same amount of time as the Pacific route. Northbound, Hwy 1/19 is still a few about 15 minutes shorter.
Drive sober, drive safe - try not to drive at sunset and after dark. Much Ojo!
The four lane expansion continues between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas along Hwy 1 and Hwy 19 along the Pacific Coast route of the Baja Sur loop. Four nicely paved lanes now are complete from La Paz to the 1/19 Y. The exception is a new bridge over the vado just about 1 mile north of the Y.
The bridge construction of the piles has been completed and crews are now working just south of the roadway, prefabricating the beams for the bridge. The pieces will later be moved into place by cranes. A similar process is underway right within the pueblo of San Pedro. San Pedro used to be a series of speed bumps on the road to Todos Santos from La Paz. Pottery shops, roadside tacos, locals selling pitayas or queso are common and little tiendas lined the highway for not much more than a mile. I think when the four lane is completed it will alter the face of San Pedro into a place where dust collects from fast passing cars.
Another significant challenge to La Paz/Cabo driving is a construction of a new bridge at the Bordo Vado on Calle Forjadores (Hwy 1) just meters south of the cutoff for Pichilingue. They have already paved the by-pass to which traffic will be diverted shortly. The vado is nearly a Km wide and ALL commercial traffic and a majority of all traffic bound for the rest of Baja Sur will have to cross this detour then enter a traffic signal that is already congested.
For more information on how to purchase & print Mexican auto insurance online, please click here to visit Adventure Mexican Insurance Services at or click here for phone contact information.
Speaking of paving, they are resurfacing Hwy 19 between Cerritos and Cabo San Lucas. Three years ago this section was resurfaced with what I call the 'rice krispy cookie' technique, were aggregate is laid down, then tar applied and the process repeated. That section of highway was under construction for months. It also proved not very durable under the heavy traffic and high heat of that section of roadway. Everything consumed in Los Cabos travels that road. This time a paving machine is laying beautiful asphalt surface at the rate of about a 2 feet a minute. The road crews of closed 1 of two lanes for what seemed to be an inordinate distance of about 3 miles. Traffic is held in one direction for up to 15 minutes. Quite a line can build up in that time ad this can be particularly difficult in the southbound direction in which all the trucks are full. The 30 mph crawl that the pack is reduced to can often be reduced further when there are several heavy trucks in your convoy.
Construction on the 4 lane has begun from Todos Santo northward. Along the south side of the road clearing has begun. Unfortunately, one of the most ill-conceived Pemex stations has been constructed on the outskirts of Todos Santos. The new station is located on the headwaters of the freshwater feed to the city below. All gas stations leak, at very least from their parking apron. To add insult to injury here, the construction company pushed the building trash into the marsh are RIGHT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD in plain view. That's OK Pemex, there is lots of clean fresh water here in Baja Sur!
Click here for Phone Contact Information for Adventure Auto Insurance
In the middle of the stretch from the Y to Todos Santos is a restaurant named Bugunbillia and a cluster of homes. In this area the 4 lane work is in process as well and there is a detour off the road during weekdays of about 2-3km. This is driving over graded desert. There are places that will become quickly impassable when it rains, even a little Traffic is slow and the dust is high.
I have been driving the Baja Sur Loop back and forth to Cabo now for 6 years. There have always been a limited number of places to pass and fewer that many drivers would call safe. Over the years I have memorized al of these places and strategically plan my moves around convoys of trucks. on this last trip, so much traffic is using this road in the other lane, those rare passing locations often have on-coming traffic. Although the 4 lane construction is going to be much more painful before it gets better, it is sorely needed.
For years, the 1/19 route was faster for La Paz travelers to get to the San Jose del Cabo Airport. Today, With the increased traffic, construction and that southbound trucks are laden, I found the Hwy 1 route along East Cape, although longer, took exactly the same amount of time as the Pacific route. Northbound, Hwy 1/19 is still a few about 15 minutes shorter.
Drive sober, drive safe - try not to drive at sunset and after dark. Much Ojo!
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