Puerto Rico Highway 139 (PR-139) is a two-way secondary highway in the municipality of Ponce 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 ...

. With a length of , it extends from the interchange of

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 ...

and

PR-14 Puerto Rico Highway 14 (PR-14) is a main highway connecting Ponce to Cayey, Puerto Rico. The road runs the same course as the historic Carretera Central. The Ponce-to- Coamo section of PR-14 was built under the direction of Spanish engineer Ra ...

located in

Barrio Machuelo Arriba Machuelo Arriba is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with the barrios of Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués Rural, Portugués, Montes Llanos, Maragüez, and Cerrillos (Ponce), Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba is one of t ...

to the junction with

PR-143 Puerto Rico Highway 143 (PR-143) is a secondary highway that connects the town of Adjuntas to the town of Barranquitas. This roads extends from PR-123 to PR-162 along the Cordillera Central. Route description Heading east from Adjuntas, PR-1 ...

on the Ponce–

Jayuya Jayuya () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the mountainous center region of the island, north of Ponce; east of Utuado; and west of Ciales. Jayuya is spread over 10 barrios and Jayuya Pueblo (the downtown and administra ...

municipal limit.

Route description

The road runs south to north through Barrio Machuelo Arriba, where serves as the main access to few communities and neighborhood developments before leaving the city of Ponce to the mountains. Then, the road makes its way though the rural area, mostly alongside

Río Cerrillos Cerrillos River (Spanish language, Spanish: Río Cerrillos) is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Río Cerrillos has its origin in barrio Anón and runs south until it feeds into Bucaná River. Río Cerrillos is commonly known ...

in barrio

Maragüez Maragüez (''Barrio Maragüez'') is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Magueyes, Ponce, Puerto Rico, Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués (Ponce), Portugués, Montes Llanos, Machuelo Arriba, Sabanetas, Ponce, Pue ...

, bordering the western bank of

Lake Cerrillos Lake Cerrillos (Spanish: Lago Cerrillos) is a human-made lake located in barrio Maragüez, Ponce, Puerto Rico. The lake was finished in 1992 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The main purposes of the reservoir are flood control, water supp ...

until it reaches upstream of the reservoir, where it crosses the river for make its way along its eastern bank. Farther north, PR-139 climbs the mountains of 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 ** ...

through

Barrio Anón ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish word that means " quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, architectur ...

until its terminus at the

Ruta Panorámica The ''Ruta Panorámica'' (Scenic Route), officially the ''Ruta Panorámica Luis Muñoz Marín'' (Luis Muñoz Marín Scenic Route), is a network of some 40 secondary roads which traverse the island of Puerto Rico from west to east along its (C ...

. Letrero en la PR-139, a metros del comienzo de la ruta en Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando hacia el noreste (DSC00569).jpg, Northbound sign, a few yards from the start of the route in Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking northeast PR-139 in Barrio Maraguez in Ponce, Puerto Rico, heading SB (IMG 3784).jpg, Heading south in Barrio Maragüez, Ponce, with the city of Ponce and the Río Portugués channel in the background and the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

in the far background

Communities served

As the road is traveled in a northbound fashion, it serves barrios Machuelo Arriba, Maragüez, and Anón. In Machuelo Arriba, PR-139 meets with PR-505, PR-139R, PR-5139, and the Río Bayagán; in Maragüez, it crosses through

Cerrillos State Forest Cerrillos State Forest is one of the 21 state forests in Puerto Rico. It is located in barrio Maragüez, in the municipality of Ponce, and covers of valleys and mountains in the foothills of the Cordillera Central mountain range. The forest ha ...

, and in Anón, it meets with Río Prieto and Río Blanco, two tributaries of the Río Cerrillos.

History

The entire length of PR-139 is part of the old Road 51, a highway that led from Ponce to Jayuya until the

1953 Puerto Rico highway renumbering In 1953, the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works implemented a major renumbering of its insular highways. Before 1953, highway routes were numbered in the 1 to just over 100 range and were distributed randomly throughout t ...

, a process implemented by the

Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works The Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP; ) is the Executive department of the government of Puerto Rico, Executive Department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that regulates transportation and public works in Puerto Rico.Trans ...

() that increased the insular highway network to connect existing routes with different locations around Puerto Rico. Route 51 extended from PR-14 (old Road No. 1) between barrios

Machuelo Abajo Machuelo Abajo is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Machuelo Abajo is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that ar ...

and Machuelo Arriba to the intersection of PR-143 with PR-140 (former Road No. 15) on the Ponce–Jayuya–

Utuado Utuado () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central mountainous region of the island known as the '' Cordillera Central''. It is located north of Adjuntas and Ponce; south of Hatillo and Arecibo; east of Lares; and west ...

municipal tripoint. Its original way currently corresponds to PR-139 and PR-143, the latter from PR-139 in the east to PR-140 in the west. PR-139R also belongs to an original segment of the old Road No. 51. The other part of the highway disappeared after the creation of Cerrillos Dam.

Major intersections

Related routes

Currently, Puerto Rico Highway 139 has two branches along its route in Ponce.

Puerto Rico Highway 139R

Puerto Rico Highway 139R (, abbreviated Ramal PR-139 or PR-139R) is a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A Bypass route, bypass or beltway is not considered a spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the ...

or ''ramal'' from its parent route PR-139 between barrios

Machuelo Arriba Machuelo Arriba is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with the barrios of Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués Rural, Portugués, Montes Llanos, Maragüez, and Cerrillos (Ponce), Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba is one of t ...

and

. With a length of , is the main (and only) access to Cerrillos Dam and Luis A. "Wito" Morales Park. Carretera PR-139R, Barrio Machuelo Arriba, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando al sur (20220102 090831).jpg, PR-139R south in Barrio Machuelo Arriba PR-139, km 3.2, viajando al norte, acercándose a PR-5139 y PR-139R (ahora, PR-507), Bo. Machuelo Arriba, Ponce, PR (DSC04242).jpg, PR-139 north at PR-139R and PR-5139 intersection in Barrio Machuelo Arriba

Puerto Rico Highway 5139

Puerto Rico Highway 5139 (PR-5139) is a north–south connector located between

and PR-139. With a length of , this road runs through barrios Cerrillos and

, crossing the

near Cerrillos Dam. PR-5139, km 2.7, Bo. Machuelo Arriba, Ponce, Puerto Rico, mirando al sur (DSC03415B).jpg, PR-5139 south in Barrio Machuelo Arriba PR-5139, viajando al norte, acercándose a intersección con PR-139, Bo. Machuelo Arriba, Ponce, PR (DSC04234).jpg, PR-5139 north at PR-139 and PR-139R intersection in Barrio Machuelo Arriba