Mexican Federal Highway

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Mexican Federal Highways, are roads maintained and built by the federal government of Mexico, thorough the Communications and Transportation Department (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, SCT). There are three classes of Federal Highways in Mexico: four-lane restricted access road, four-lane undivided road, and two-lane road. However, there is another classification of Federal Highways used within the country, as roads can be toll roads (autopista de cuota) and free roads (autopista libre).

1 Four-lane restricted access road
2 Four-lane undivided road
3 Undivided two lane road
4 Numbering system
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Four-lane restricted access road

Known as autopistas, full limited access (although often not quite as limited as US interstates) expressways with interchanges and, most of the time, high tolls. These roads are comparable to the USA Interstate Highway System. Access to these roads is generally prohibited for pedestrians and animals, as fences are located at a side of the road for most of the length. Vehicles can access the road by using the established points-of-access, as interchanges. Some of these roads convert to two-lane highways in mountain areas. Four lane versions typically have a 110 km/h (70 mph) speed limit for cars and 95 km/h (60 mph) for buses and trucks. Most of these roads classify as toll roads, and tolls can be very high, at a level of 2-3 pesos (0.19-0.28 USD) per kilometer for autos and motorcycles. Due to their speed and quality, these toll roads are by far the safest roads in Mexico. They are almost always paralleled by a free (libre) 2-lane route for slow traffic, local buses, and those who cannot afford the tolls.

[edit] Four-lane undivided road

Most of these roads were two-lane roads converted into four-lane by constructing another road body at a side of the existing one. They have interchanges at major roads, but most intersections are at-grade. Some of them are toll roads, with tolls being much lower than in the restricted access roads.

[edit] Undivided two lane road

The most common form of federal highway, these roads crisscross the country. These roads sometimes have potholes, much slow traffic, and are very winding in mountain areas. In areas where narcotics traffickers, smuggling, and illegal immigration is a problem there may be police or military checkpoints and bandits. Many of these go deep into the countryside, and some are not very safe. These roads are free, and often become secondary or frontage roads after being replaced by a larger toll road. Official map of conditions of Mexican federal highways