The DR-7, also known as the Santo Domingo-Samana Highway or simply Samana Highway,
is the newest addition to the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
national
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...
system.
Route description
The highway starts with the Autopista Las Américas
DR-3
DR-3 is one of three main dual carriageway highways of the Dominican Republic, connecting Santo Domingo to the eastern cities of the republic. The highway begins at the ''Plaza de La Bandera'', on the western side of Santo Domingo, and travels e ...
(30 km east of
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...
) and ends at the intersection Cruce Rincón de Molinillos,
Samaná Province
Samaná () is a Provinces of the Dominican Republic, province of the Dominican Republic in the Samaná Peninsula located in the eastern region. Its Capital (political), capital is Samaná (town), Santa Bárbara de Samaná, usually known as Samaná ...
. There are three different toll booths: the first one 300 metres after the southern start of the highway; the second one at km marker 16; and the third one was built in La Reforma, right before Samaná and the Cruce Rincón de Molinillos intersection.
History
The actual construction of the rural highway started in the 2005 by the Secretary of Public Works and Communication (Secretaria de Publicas y Comunicación, SEOPC). In November 2007 the highway started final paving, since the landscape is difficult and the financing has been a major issue for the project and had stalled on several occasions thus delaying the project. It was finished by early February 2008. The new highway opened on June 1, 2009, and stretches 106 kilometers at a cost of US$150 million.
It passes the city of
Monte Plata
Monte Plata is a town, Municipalities of the Dominican Republic, municipality (''municipio'') and the capital city, capital of the Monte Plata Province, Monte Plata Provinces of the Dominican Republic, province in the Dominican Republic. It inclu ...
,
Bayaguana
Bayaguana is a Municipalities of the Dominican Republic, municipality (''municipio'') of the Monte Plata Province, Monte Plata Provinces of the Dominican Republic, province in the Dominican Republic.
As of the Dominican Republic's 2002 census, th ...
and the
Los Haitises National Park
Los Haitises National Park is a national park located on the remote northeast coast of the Dominican Republic that was established in 1976. It consists of a limestone karst plateau with conical hills, sinkholes and caverns, and there is a large a ...
and 12 bridges had to be built to cross difficult terrain and rivers. Each lane is 3.65 metres wide and there's a hard shoulder for emergency stops. The total width of the 2 lanes and the hard shoulder on each side is 8 metres.
The construction of this new rural highway was done through private financing which is to be paid with tolls from RD$350.00 up to RD$700.00 each way. Even though this is much more expensive than most other highway tolls in the Dominican Republic, it is more economical compared to the old route because less time is spent and less gas needed. On top one can circumvent the very dangerous rural highway from the highway DR-1 near
Bonao
Bonao is a city in the Cibao region of Dominican Republic. It is the capital of the Monseñor Nouel province. The city is located in the center of the country, to the northwest of the national capital Santo Domingo.
The city is known as "Villa ...
via
San Francisco de Macoris to
Samaná, which is one of the most deadly rural highways in the Dominican Republic.
The new two lane toll based highway is expected to convert Samaná to another thriving tourist hub and it makes the Los Haitises National Park much more accessible to the general public. The highway reduced the time a trip from
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...
to the
Samaná region took from 4 hours and 30 minutes to now less than 2 hours. The highway is expected to reduce the traffic along the
DR-1
DR-1 is a dual carriageway highway that forms part of the five designated national highways of the Dominican Republic. DR-1 provides a fast connection between Santo Domingo, the capital, on the southern coast, and the second city Santiago and th ...
which was the only highway connecting Santo Domingo to Samana.
See also
*
Highways and Routes in the Dominican Republic
There are various highways and routes in the Dominican Republic. They are built and maintained by the Ministry of Public Works and Communication (Spanish: ''Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Comunicaciones'') or MOPC. Overall the system is centered a ...
External links
Diario Libre (span.) information on the project
References
{{Highways of the Dominican Republic
Highways and routes in the Dominican Republic