BR-040

BR-040
BR-040 near Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
Highway system
Highways in Brazil

BR-040 is a federal highway of Brazil. The 1,178.7 kilometres (732.4 mi) road connects Brasilia to Rio de Janeiro.

The starting point of the highway is in Brasília at the junction with the BR-450 (Via EPIA) and BR-251 (Via EPCT). The road ends at Praça Mauá at the Port of Rio de Janeiro. The BR-040 traverses Distrito Federal and the states of Goiás, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. It is the main road link between these parts of the country. In September 2009, the stretch of highway between Brasília (DF) and Petrópolis (RJ) was named President Juscelino Kubitschek Highway.

The BR-040 serves the following town and cities:

Today's BR-040 came into being in 1973 by means of the National Transportation Plan. The initial draft saw the highway planned from Brasília to São João da Barra, (RJ). With the revision, the stretch between Belo Horizonte and São João da Barra became part of the BR-356 as part of the Rio stretch of the BR-040. This was originally part of the BR-135. Until 1964, the stretch between Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte was called the BR-3.

Two stretches of the BR-040 are important to the history of Brazilian roads. The stretch between Petrópolis and Juiz de Fora included the Estrada União e Indústria, the first Brazilian highway, inaugurated on July 23, 1861 by Dom Pedro II. This stretch was replaced by the actual Rio de Janeiro-Juiz de Fora road in 1980. The stretch of the BR-040 situated between Petrópolis (RJ) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ) was named the Washington Luiz highway in honour of the ex-president of the republic who had it built during his 1926-1930 term. In 1931, the asphalt concrete road was the first of its kind in the country.

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Wikipedia