The Pan American Highway is a grand attraction on the American continent. The unique highway, the length of which exceeds the length of the equator, has been built for several decades, starting in 1925, when the decision to build was made at the First Pan American Highway Conference in Buenos Aires.
The greatest road in the world
The project brought together 17 countries. It included Canada and the United States in the northern part of the continent. Mexico, Colombia, Peru and other Latin American countries have become participants in the construction of the southern segment. The total length of the Pan American Highway is about 48 thousand kilometers, it is the longest road in the world, included in the Guinness Book of Records.
The Pan American Highway connects North and South America, crosses six time zones and four climatic zones. Some sections of the road become unsuitable for travel during the rainy season, so there is a special monitoring that regulates traffic in extreme situations. In general, the Pan American Highway is a unifying factor for the infrastructure of all the states through which the highway passes.
Northern part
The entire territory of the United States and Canada has a developed road network, independent of the Pan American Highway, but it is the main transport artery with many branches and peripheral routes connecting industrial regions. Several highways in different states of America are called Pan-American, including the Inter-American Highway, built during the Second World War, when there was a danger of German submarines attacking port warehouses and efficient routes for urgent transportation were needed.
From the border of Mexico and the United States originates the main part of the Pan American Highway. The road passes through the large Mexican cities of Monterrey, Oaxaca, Mexico City and many others. The route was laid in such a way that on its route were the capitals of all countries of Central America. The exception was Honduras: a branch of the Pan American Highway approached its capital, the city of Tegucigalpa.
Darien space
On the border of Panama and Colombia, there is a section that is impossible to drive in an ordinary car. This is the so-called Darien gap with a length of 87 kilometers. The pristine jungle is protected by environmental restrictions, the natural reserves of Panama are located nearby, for this reason the laying of the route has become impossible. But even without this, the development of the site would have been impossible due to the landscape features of the local nature. The jungle in some places is completely impassable, but there is virtually no land there, only some swamps. The road would periodically fail.
To top it all off, the US Congress is actively opposing the construction of a road on this stretch, fearing an uncontrolled flow of drugs from Colombia. Thus, cars pass through the Darien gap with the help of a ferry connecting the Colombian city of Buenaventura with the port of Panama. Of course, this is due to certain inconveniences, since drivers have to lose a lot of time waiting for the ferry, but no other solution is expected.
Start
The Pan American Highway originates in the northern city of Fairbanks in Alaska and descends south to the city of Edmonton. This 2230 km stretch of track is called Alaska Highway. The highway then forks and passes through two separate highways across the United States to reconnect in the city of San Antonio, in southern Texas. From this place the track goes further south, to the city of Panama City. After the ferry crossing, the Pan American Highway becomes a full-fledged highway for thousands of cars and passes through all of Colombia, the mountain valleys of the Andes and through the Cauca River Valley. From the city of Bogotรก, the highway branches off and reaches Caracas.
Latin America
Then the Pan American Highway passes through the mountain plateau of Ecuador, bypassing the cities of Cuenca and Quito.Then the route goes along the Pacific coast to the capital of Peru, Lima. After this, the highway branches again, one branch leaves towards La Paz, the actual capital of Bolivia, the other branch continues south to the city of Valparaiso in Chile. Then the highway turns left and leaves for Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, crossing the entire Latin American continent. From Buenos Aires, the highway continues to the southernmost point, the city of Ushuaia, located on the shores of the Strait of Magellan.
Tourism
In addition to strategic economic importance, there is another function that the Pan American Highway performs. Traveling along the longest road is associated with an unforgettable experience. For example, a highway runs along the driest terrain of planet Earth, the Akatama Desert. The main attraction of the desert is a giant human hand rising from the sands, symbolizing the dying traveler drowning in the sandy abyss. The sculpture, 11 meters high, was created by the sculptor Mario Irarrasabal in 1992. The Pan American Highway, the description of which is not possible to do in one article, will give the traveler a lot of impressions.