The Rodovia dos Imigrantes (official designation SP-160) is a highway in the state of

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 ...

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 ...

. The highway connects the city of

to the Atlantic coast and with the seaside cities of São Vicente and

Praia Grande Praia Grande is a municipality in the Baixada Santista Metropolitan Region, on the southern coast of the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is part of the Immediate Region of Santos and its population measured in the IBGE census review in 2010 ...

. It follows the route of the

Rodovia Anchieta The Rodovia Anchieta (Anchieta Highway, official designation SP-150) is a highway connection between São Paulo and the Atlantic coast, the cities of Cubatão and Santos, in Brazil. In the plateau, the highway serves several cities of Greater S ...

and is also one of Brazil's busiest highways, especially on weekends. The Rodovia dos Imigrantes has 44

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

s, seven bridges, and 11 tunnels, along its 58.5 km stretch. The highway has recently been expanded, in one of the most audacious feats of Brazilian

highway engineering Highway engineering (also known as roadway engineering and street engineering) is a professional engineering discipline branching from the civil engineering subdiscipline of transportation engineering that involves the planning, design, construct ...

, with extremely long

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

s and high strutting six-lane

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 constructed over the tropical

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 ...

, which covers the steep faces of the

Serra do Mar The Serra do Mar (; ) is a system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to southern Santa Ca ...

, the

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

range that separates the São Paulo

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. ...

from the seaside lowlands. During sunny weekends, more than one million automobiles commonly cross its near 60 km run, separating the city of São Paulo from the sea. The Rodovia dos Imigrantes was inaugurated on Monday, 28 June 1976, by President

Ernesto Geisel Ernesto Beckmann Geisel (, ; 3 August 1907 – 12 September 1996) was a Brazilian Army officer and politician, who served as the 29th president of Brazil from 1974 to 1979, during the Brazilian military dictatorship. Born to German Lutheran ...

, due to traffic saturation on the

. Although longer than the Anchieta, the Imigrantes is nowadays busier due to its building standards, which permit higher

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

s, and its more direct path to the cities of

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

and

Guarujá Guarujá (; ) is a municipality in the São Paulo state of Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of the Baixada Santista. The population is 311,116 (2022 preliminary census count) in an area of . This place name comes from the Tupi lan ...

, the northern coast (with

Bertioga Bertioga is a Brazilian municipality in the state of São Paulo and part of the Baixada Santista Metropolitan Region. Its population is 64,723 (2020 est.) in an area of 490.15 km2. Because it neighbors resort towns, its population fluctuates ...

), as well as the southern coast (with cities

Mongaguá Mongaguá is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista. The population is 57,648 (2020 est.) in an area of 141.87 km2. The name comes from the Tupi language. Its seal ca ...

, and

Itanhaém Itanhaém is a municipality in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of the Baixada Santista. The population is 103,102 (2020 est.) in an area of 601.85 km². The elevation is 4 m. Geogr ...

). Its south lane was inaugurated on Tuesday, 17 December 2002. Meaning "immigrants' highway" in Portuguese, the Rodovia dos Imigrantes was so named as a way to remember the contribution of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

to the cultural, economic, and social development of Brazil. It is managed by a state concession to the private company, Ecovias, which also maintains the Rodovia Anchieta; it is, therefore, 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

carriageway A carriageway (British English) or roadway (North American English) is a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally. A carriageway generally consists of a number of traffic lane ...

s of the Rodovia dos Imigrantes are both fully reversible and

traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

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 economics, demand is the quantity of a goods, good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. In economics "demand" for a commodity is not the same thing as "desire" for it. It refers to both the desi ...

. In the unidirectional mode, the opposing traffic is diverted to the

Directions

The path of the Immigrant Road crosses the following municipalities, all in the state of

, Diadema,

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 ...

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 ...

, São Vicente and

Tolls

The Rodovia dos Imigrantes has been tolled since its inauguration. As in all the highways that suffered concessions, the tolls of the Imigrantes suffered strong readjustments, even after discounting inflation, considered excessive by significant users. Currently, the toll of the Imigrantes is the most expensive in the state, at R$ 35.30, valid for a round trip by car. In the stretch of plateau, the Imigrantes presents three tolls of blockade to the access to the bordering localities.

References

External links

Secretary of Transportation of the State Government of São Paulo

Ecovias
{{Highways of the city of São Paulo Highways in São Paulo (state)

Directions

Tolls

See also

References

External links