Highway 10 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Maintained by DTOP | ||||
Length: | 68.26 km (42.41 mi) | |||
Existed: | 1902 – present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end: | PR-506 in Barrio Vayas, Ponce | |||
North end: | PR-2 in Arecibo | |||
Highway system | ||||
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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-10, a new 68.26-kilometer (42.41 mi) highway, began in 1974. The highway is being built parallel to the old PR-10; that road is now signed PR-123. Most of the new PR-10 is now complete, with an approximately 10-kilometer (6.2 mi) stretch still remaining to be finished. In its current state it is a freeway only in the completed portions, which consists of over three-fourths of the highway.
In May 2010, Autoridad de Carreteras estimated the road would be completed in 2015, at a cost of $500 million. Upon completion, the highway is expected to become one of the two major roads on the island that cross the Cordillera Central mountain range. The first section of the road was inaugurated in the year 2000. After "more than 40 years" since the project was initiated, as of 22 January 2017, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) remained to be completed.
The history of PR-10 is closely linked to PR-123 (the old Ponce-to-Adjuntas Road) which predates it.
PR-123 dates to the late 19th century when it was built under the colonial government of Spain to connect the coffee-growing town of Adjuntas to the port city of Ponce as a farm-to-market road.
When the PR-10 road started construction in the mid-1970s, the then Ponce-Arecibo Road, which used to be signed PR-10, was resigned PR-123 and the new road was signed PR-10. Today, PR-10 signs refer to the new road, whereas PR-123 signs refer to the old road. The old road is roughly parallel to the new PR-10. The exception to this is in the area between the towns of Adjuntas and Utuado, where construction of PR-10 is not yet complete and traffic is detoured to use the PR-123. In that area PR-10 signs identify the old road. Prior to 1974, the full length of the old road was, in fact, signed PR-10. This route signing can still be seen in some old street maps of the city of Ponce. PR-10 is an alternate route to PR-123.