DR-2 is the second numbered national highway in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. Its common name is Carretera Sánchez in honor of

Francisco del Rosario Sánchez Francisco del Rosario Sánchez (March 9, 1817 – July 4, 1861) was a Dominican revolutionary, politician, and former president of the Dominican Republic. He is considered by Dominicans as the second leader of the 1844 Dominican War of Independe ...

, one of the founding fathers. In the city of Santo Domingo, it is known as Autopista 30 de Mayo. The highway serves as the main connection to the southwestern region of the country. The highway's eastern terminus is located in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

and continues on a western route through until its end in Comendador for a total length of approximately 255 kilometers. The route is mainly a two-lane roadway even though it has been recently expanded from San Cristobal to

Baní Baní is a capital town of the Peravia Province, Dominican Republic. It is the commercial and manufacturing center in the southern region of Valdesia. The town is located 65 km south of the capital city Santo Domingo. Baní is the headquart ...

and has been largely replaced by the faster

DR-6 DR-6 is a designated dual-carriageway highway in the Dominican Republic and gives Santo Domingo a fast connection to the southwestern part of the republic bypassing the city of Bajos de Haina, and San Cristobal. Unlike DR-2 which takes a local ...

route from

to San Cristobal. Due to its locality and heavy traffic DR-2 has been undergoing an expansion project to make it a two-lane expressway and allow better traffic flow. DR-2 has one toll location just outside the boundaries of

Greater Santo Domingo Greater Santo Domingo ( es, Gran Santo Domingo) is a term commonly used referring to the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. This may be the Santo Domingo province together with the Distrito Nacional. Before 2001 the Di ...

before entering the town of Haina.

Overview

From it eastern terminus in

to its western terminus in Comendador, the highway travels through the most important cities of the southwest region of the republic known for their arid climate and widespread poverty more prevalent than in other regions of the country.

Autopista 30 de Mayo

30 de Mayo begin west of George Washington avenue along the Caribbean coast. For those traveling along the coast it serves as a major artery connecting with the ''Jimenez Moya'' (Winston Churchill), ''Nuñez de Caceres'', and ''Luperon'' avenue that give fast access to the

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

area. This highway is unique among the rest of the city because it exhibits characteristics of a controlled-access roadway while at the same time behaving like a regular avenue. Originally, as it was meant to provide a fast connection to the southwestern part of country. In the present it has been largely replaced by the

which bypasses the city of

Bajos de Haina Bajos de Haina (Standard ), mostly known simply as Haina, is a town and municipality in the San Cristóbal Province, of the Dominican Republic. It is close to the capital Santo Domingo, and may be regarded as part of the metropolitan area of Gre ...

, Haina Port and San Cristobal.

Carretera Sánchez: Santo Domingo to San Cristobal

As DR-2 exits

it is renamed in honor of one of the founding fathers of the Republic. A toll is paid before entering the commercial port of Haina, the largest port in the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and t ...

. The Highway continues its westward path entering the through the northern neighborhood of

were commercial traffic tends to be heavy due to its proximity to the port. Farther west, DR-2, serves as a local connection to the major city of San Cristobal which is only about 30 kilometers west of Santo Domingo. At this point it runs roughly parallel to the

. As it enters the city center Carretera Sanchez becomes a main street of the city and crosses the city as it continues westward. After exiting the city, DR-2 merges with the faster

(DR-6 ends here) and continues to the town of

Bani Bani may refer to: Places Africa *Bani Department, a department in the Séno Province of Burkina Faso * Bani, Bani, Séno, Burkina Faso *Bani, Bourzanga, Bam, Burkina Faso *Bani, Gnagna, Burkina Faso *Bani, The Gambia *Bani River, a tributary o ...

Expansion and Modernization

In recent years, the Ministry of Public Works has worked to expand the highway from one-lane in each direction into a two-lane bi-directional highway from San Cristobal to Bani to ease the high volume of traffic traveling in DR-2/DR-6. The Expansion increased the quality of the highway and the safety for its drivers following similar standards of the expansions in

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 ea ...

which a large median and well kilometer signage. As a result of the expansion fast travel can be achieved from the city of Santo Domingo all the way to Bani without the dangers and accidents that previously made this highway one of the most dangerous.

Discontinuity in the city of Bani

DR-2 enters the town of

, the capital and largest city of

Peravia Peravia () is a province in the southern region of the Dominican Republic. Before January 1, 2002 it was included in what is the new San José de Ocoa province, and published statistics and maps generally relate it to the old, larger, Peravia. ...

and divides into two local one-way main streets that cross the city center. This has been a problem still unresolved which causes great traffic congestion along these two main street and forces travelers going farther west to enter the city of Bani without an option to bypass it. A bypass of Bani to the north or south of the town would allow the motorist to save time when going to western cities. DR-501 serves as a spur route of DR-2 in the center of Bani serving the small villages of Villa Sombrero,

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

, and Las Calderas.

Carretera Sanchez from Bani to Comendador

After leaving the city center, the Carretera Sánchez continues and becomes a two-lane high speed road which connects to the DR-41 in Cruce de Ocoa and also gives connection to DR-44 which spurs out of DR-2 and continues to southwestern cities of Barahona, and Pedernales while DR-2 continues west to the towns of

San Juan de La Maguana San Juan de la Maguana is a city and municipality in the western region of the Dominican Republic and capital of the San Juan province. It was one of the first cities established on the island; founded in 1503, and was given the name of San Juan ...