Puerto Rico Highway 1 (PR-1) is a highway in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

that connects the city of Ponce to

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. 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 Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands. Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges: * Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America ** ...

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.

Route description

PR-1 starts in Ponce and ends in San Juan. The route connects important cities such as Salinas,

Cayey Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north east of Salinas and north of Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east o ...

, and

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Central Mountain Range, it is bordered by San Juan and Trujillo Alto to ...

. In Ponce, PR-1 intersects

PR-2 Puerto Rico Highway 2 (PR-2) is a road in Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Ponce. At 156 miles (230 km) long, it is Puerto Rico's longest singled-signed highway. The road runs counter-clockwise from San Juan to Ponce. ...

and

PR-52 Puerto Rico Highway 52 (PR-52), a major toll road in Puerto Rico, is also known as . It was formerly called . It runs from PR-1 in southwest Río Piedras and heads south until it intersects with highway PR-2 in Ponce. At its north end, the sh ...

. One of the major roads in Ponce that PR-1 does not intersect is

PR-10 Puerto Rico Highway 10 (PR-10) is a major highway in Puerto Rico. The primary state road connects the city of Ponce in the south coast to Arecibo in the north; it is also the shortest route between the two cities. Construction on the modern PR ...

, which is accessible via an alternate route ( PR-5506) through

Mercedita Airport Mercedita International Airport (AIM) () is an international airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The airport covers 270 '' cuerdas'' (approx. 262.2 acres) of land ...

. 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 Puerto Rico Highway 578 (PR-578) is tertiarySabanetas. 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. Bulevar Miguel Pou, mirando hacia el oeste, en Barrio San Anton, Ponce, PR (20181230 074625).jpg, PR-1 west in Ponce, heading towards downtown Ponce PR-1 Muda.jpg, PR-1 heading south from

to Caguas, near La Muda

Signing

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 , started during the governorship of

Miguel de la Torre Miguel de la Torre y Pando, 1st Count of Torre-Pando (13 December 1786 – 27 May 1843) was a Spanish general, governor and captain general, who served in Spain, Venezuela, Colombia and Puerto Rico during the Iberian-americas rebellious separ ...

(1822–1837). A small section from San Juan to Río Piedras was then started. 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. The Road was also known as (The Military Road). The modern PR-1 was opened on 10 March 1907.

Major intersections

Letrero en PR-1 viajando al este, anunciando entrada a PR-578, Bo. Sabanetas, Ponce, Puerto Rico (DSC04419).jpg, PR-1 east at Avenida Los Caobos junction, a connector to PR-578 between Bucaná and

Vayas Vayas is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Playa, Bucana, Canas and Capitanejo, Vayas is also one of Ponce's five coastal barrios. Together with Capitanejo, Vayas is also one of two rural coastal ba ...

barrios, Ponce Autopista PR-52, salida hacia la carretera PR-1, Caguas, Puerto Rico (1).jpg, PR-52 south at exit 23 to PR-1 in Turabo, Caguas Expreso PR-1, San Juan, Puerto Rico (1).jpg, Entrance ramp to PR-1 south in Santurce, San Juan

References

External links

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