DR-3

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DR-3 is a designated highway in the Dominican Republic and gives Santo Domingo a rapid connection to the eastern portion of the country where most of the hotels and resorts lie. The Las Américas International Airport is within 30 minutes of Santo Domingo by the DR-3. The highway is named Autopista de las Americas until reaching the Las Americas International Airport; after passing the airport it becomes known as the Autovia Del Este. DR-3 was repaired in 2003 for the Santo Domingo 2003 Pan American Games and then underwent an even longer reconstruction from AILA to San Pedro De Macoris. The highway no longer passes through the city of SPM because it now passes it by to the north. Arguably the most modern highway in the nation, it contains service stops in the median.

Expreso 27 de Febrero Tunnel in Downtown Santo Domingo(D.N)

Duarte and Bosch Bridges over Ozama River Connecting the Expreso 27 De Febrero(D.N) and the Expreso las Americas corridors. See Inset

[edit] Overview

DR-3 is regarded by different names from its western terminus in Plaza de la Bandera, Santo Domingo, D.N to San Rafael del Yuma in the eastern corner of the country. It connects the capital of the country with the eastern touristic region of the country and major cities such as San Pedro De Macoris and La Romana .

Autopista De las Americas eastbound. Caribbean Sea next to it. See Inset

[edit] Expreso 27 de Febrero/Expreso de las Americas

In the D.N/Santo Domingo Expreso 27 de Febrero(Spanish for: Expressway 27 of February) is the beginning of the designated DR-3 national highway. It begins in Plaza de la Bandera in the west of the D.N and the becomes an urban express ground-corridor with Tunnels and underground overpasses. The Expreso passes downtown Santo Domingo and important avenues such as Maximo Gomez, Lincoln and Winston Churchill, which connect the rest of the city to the corridor. After passing the downtown area, the Expreso becomes a long viaduct, bypassing congested traffic zones near Zona Colonial. The eastern end of the viaduct is in the Ozama River.

The Expreso then crosses the Ozama River through the Duarte and Bosch bridges and becomes the Expreso de las Americas (Spanish for: Expressway of the Americas) in Santo Domingo Este no longer part of the D.N. Here the Expreso is five lanes each way with two express lanes each way which go through a tunnel, and three local lanes which serve as a service road. The corridor connects with important avenues of SDE like the San Vicente avenue. At the end of the corridor the Expreso becomes parallel to the Caribbean Sea and becomes the Autopista de las Americas.

[edit] Autopista de las Americas

Grade Separation marking the end of Autopista de las Americas as part of DR-3 turning Right(eastbound). See Inset

From Santo Domingo Este to the Las Americas International Airport, a distance of about forty kilometers, the highway is three lanes in east and west bound. This highway then turns south in a small peninsula utilizing grade intersection --here no longer being part of the designated DR-3--into Punta Caucedo to reach its ending point at the international airport. In this section the highway lies only meters away from the coast, and the Caribbean sea is completely visible. The section contains frequent service stops after being successfully renovated for the Santo Domingo Pan American Games of 2003.

[edit] Autovia del Este

When Autopista de Las Americas turns right, Autovia Del Este begins(Ccountinuing eastbound) and becomes a two lane national highway. The highway passes through the towns of Andres, Boca Chica, and Juan Dolio before turning northward in order to successfully pass the City of San Pedro de Macoris without entering the city and acting as a real expressway. Autovia del Este the continues into the rest of the Eastern Touristic regions of the Dominican Republic. La Romana, Punta Cana, Higuey, Bayahibe and finally San Rafael Del Yuma are connected by the highway.

Autovia del Este close to San Pedro de Macoris, T-intersection, north goes the new DR-3 and eastbound continues into city center.See Inset

[edit] Reconstruction and upgrades

In 2002 the Autopista de las Americas was renovated by placing new light bulbs and service stops in the middle of the highway while making it a three-lane expressway. This improvement helped eliminate traffic as it entered the Greater Santo Domingo Area. After seeing the results of these improvements the government decided to renovate the Autovia Del Este from AILA to San Pedro De Macoris. In 2006, the Dominican government started the project to change the path of the highway north of the city of SPM to end local traffic. As a result a bridge Mauricio Baez was constructed over the Higuamo River. Today, motorists no longer have to pass by the congested city streets of SPM in order to drive to destinations in the east.

Recently the government started a project to create a new highway named Autopista El Coral which would be non-stop from San Pedro De Macoris(SPM) to Punta Cana (one of the most popular touristic regions of the country). It is expected for this section to become part of the DR-3 designation.

The Mauricio Baez Bridge over Rio Higuamo along the DR-3.See Inset

[edit] Samana Highway

Main article: Samana Highway

When completed, the Samana Highway together with DR-3 will connect the Samana province in the northern shore of the country together with Santo Domingo. This will shorten the trip to Samana from four hours to a little less than two hours. This will contribute to introduce Samana as a Tourism region in the Northeast and alleviate traffic along the DR-1 and DR-5.

[edit] Timetable

This is a timetable of distance in kilometers, from Santo Domingo, one of the major cities located along the DR-3.

[edit] See also

Highways and Routes in the Dominican Republic