The Rodovia Anchieta (Anchieta Highway, official designation SP-150) is a highway connection between

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

and the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast, the cities of

Cubatão Cubatão is a city in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil, 12 kilometers away from Santos (São Paulo), Santos seaport, the largest in Latin America. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of the Baixada Santista. The population i ...

and Santos, in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

, the highway serves several cities of Greater São Paulo, such as

São Bernardo do Campo São Bernardo do Campo () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 810,729 (2022 census) in an area of . According to 2021 data from ...

, São Caetano do Sul, Santo André and Riacho Grande and traverses a picturesque region of

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

s and

rain forest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s. The Rodovia Anchieta is a major pride of the Brazilian

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, because it was built with a great number of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s and tunnels along the steep cliffs of the Serra do Mar; and the first modern,

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

-paved road built in São Paulo in the 1930s. Its north lane was inaugurated on Tuesday, 22 April 1947, and its south on Thursday, 9 July 1953. The highway is one of the busiest of the country, because of the movement of goods to and from Santos's

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

. Traffic problems are common, mainly if there is bad

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

or in long weekends when many families living in São Paulo go to Santos or Guarujá

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

es. The Rodovia Anchieta is approximately 60 km long. It is named after the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest, Father José de Anchieta, who often called the trail "the worst trail in the world" it was given this nickname because it badly hurt his feet when he would walk the trail. It connected to the city of São Vicente by the sea with the village he helped to found in the high plateau, São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga, in 1554. The highway is managed by a state concession to the private company Ecovias, and therefore is a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

. The two carriageways of the Rodovia Anchieta are both fully reversible. Traffic is managed to flow either bidirectionally (uphill on one carriageway and downhill on the other) or unidirectionally (uphill or downhill on both carriageways), depending on demand. In the unidirectional mode, the opposing traffic is diverted to the Rodovia dos Imigrantes.

References

Highways in São Paulo (state) {{Brazil-road-stub

See also

References