(QCOSTARICA) In the first quarter of 2023, it will be possible to go from Barranca to Liberia, driving at the posted speed limit, in less than two hours.
This is when the expansion of the last section of the Ruta 1 or Interamericana Norte that connects Puntarenas with Guanacaste.
The first 50.5 kilometers section between Liberia and Cañas is currently operational, while the second, the 20.8 kilometers between Cañas and Limonal (with 40% progress) is under construction and should be completed sometime next year.
The third, the 50.3 kilometers between Limonal and Barranca, got the start order last Friday, August 28, shaping the dream of traveling on a wide road between Puntarenas and Guanacaste.
The plan includes converting the current two-lane road into a four-lane highway (with four-lane bridges) and contemplates the construction of underpasses at the intersections that go to the main towns so that the entire road can be one smooth ride.
With these works completed, it will be possible to travel the 122 kilometers from Barranca to Liberia, at an average speed of 80 kilometers per hour, in less than two hours.
Currently, if traveling at the posted speed limits (taking into account the 60 km/h between Barranca and Cañas and without heavy trucks) up to more than three hours.
Under these conditions, the travel time between the two provinces would be shortened to 1:52 minutes.
This is a significant saving of time, fuel, and patience of having to navigate a road of great importance for regional commerce and tourism on a road that has only one lane in each direction, having to move at low speeds behind heavy trucks that move products through Central America.
The works between Barranca and Limonal is in the hands of the consortium made up of Costa Rica’s H Solís and the Dominican company La Estrella.
The construction period is 30 months so, in the absence of unforeseen events considered force majeure, it will be ready in the first quarter of 2023.
