Puerto Rico Highway 9
Encyclopedia
Puerto Rico Highway 9, also called the Anillo de Circunvalación de Ponce (Ponce's Circumferential Highway
Circumferential Highway
Circumferential Highway may refer to one of the following beltways/orbital roads/ring roads:- Canada :* Nova Scotia Highway 111, known as the Dartmouth Circumferential Highway-Philippines:...

), is a limited-access highway entirely located within the limits of the municipality of Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...

, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, and connecting Puerto Rico Highway 10
Puerto Rico Highway 10
Puerto Rico Highway 10 is a major highway in Puerto Rico. It connects the cities of Ponce in the south and Arecibo to the north; it is also the shortest route between the two cities....

 in Barrio
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...

 Portugués
Portugués
Portugués is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Magueyes, Tibes, Monte Llano, Maragüez, Machuelo Arriba, Sabanetas, and Cerrillos, Portugués is one of the municipality's eight rural interior barrios.-Location:Portugués is a mountainous rural barrio located...

 in the north to Puerto Rico Highway 52 in barrio
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...

 Canas
Canas
Canas or Cañas may refer to:People:* Alberto Cañas Escalante, Costa Rican politician* Antonio José Cañas, Salvadoran military officer, diplomat and politician* Carlos Cañas, Salvadoran painter...

 in the south. The Oficina de Ordenacion Territorial (Office of Territorial Ordering) of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce calls this road Ronda de Circunvalacion Roman Baldorioty de Castro (Roman Baldorioty de Castro Beltway).

History

PR-9 was built in sections and the last segment needed for connecting PR-52 and PR-10 was inaugurated on 13 October 2000 by governor Pedro Rossello. The segment was 7.27km long. The cost of the road was $22 million.

Route description

PR-9 is still partly under construction. The construction work has this far yielded the extreme northern and southern segments, with the middle segment still to be built. The road currently runs mostly northwest of the city as well as southwest of the city. The western segment is still being built. This last segment has a length of 4.23 kilometers.

When completed, it will have the effect of creating a beltway around the city, given that PR-9 connects with PR-10 at its northern extreme, and PR-10 already borders the city around its northern, northeastern, and eastern edges. This beltway will have junctions will all major city highways: from PR-2
Puerto Rico Highway 2
Puerto Rico Highway 2, the longest highway in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico at about 156 miles long, connects San Juan to Ponce....

 in the west Ponce to PR-52 and PR-1
Puerto Rico Highway 1
Puerto Rico Highway 1 connects the city of Ponce to San Juan. Leaving Ponce, the road follows somewhat parallel along the southern coast of the island and, at Salinas, it turns north to cut through the Cordillera Central in its approach to San Juan....

 in east Ponce.

Major junctions

The five exits existing so far are PR-52, PR-2
Puerto Rico Highway 2
Puerto Rico Highway 2, the longest highway in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico at about 156 miles long, connects San Juan to Ponce....

, PR-500 in the southwestern segment, and PR-123, and PR-10 in the northwestern segment. When completed, the road will have six exits in this sequence from north to south: PR-10, PR-123, PR-132, PR-500, PR-2
Puerto Rico Highway 2
Puerto Rico Highway 2, the longest highway in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico at about 156 miles long, connects San Juan to Ponce....

, and PR-52.

The junction list is as follows:
  • PR-10 in Tibes
    Tibes
    Tibes is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Magueyes, Portugues, Monte Llano, Maragüez, Machuelo Arriba, Sabanetas, and Cerrillos, Tibes is one of the municipality's eight rural interior barrios...

  • PR-123 in Magueyes
    Magueyes
    Magueyes is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba, Maragüez, Monte Llano, Portugues, Sabanetas, and Tibes, Magueyes is one of the municipality's eight interior barrios. The name of this barrio is of native Indian...

  • PR-132 in Canas
    Canas (Ponce)
    Canas is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Anón, Coto Laurel, Guaraguao, Quebrada Limón, Real, San Patricio, and Marueño, and the coastal barrio of Capitanejo, Canas is one of the municipality's nine bordering barrios. It borders the municipality of...

    , Jardines del Caribe vecinity
  • PR-500 in Canas
    Canas (Ponce)
    Canas is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Anón, Coto Laurel, Guaraguao, Quebrada Limón, Real, San Patricio, and Marueño, and the coastal barrio of Capitanejo, Canas is one of the municipality's nine bordering barrios. It borders the municipality of...

    , Avenida Las Americas vecinity
  • PR-2
    Puerto Rico Highway 2
    Puerto Rico Highway 2, the longest highway in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico at about 156 miles long, connects San Juan to Ponce....

     in Canas
    Canas (Ponce)
    Canas is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Anón, Coto Laurel, Guaraguao, Quebrada Limón, Real, San Patricio, and Marueño, and the coastal barrio of Capitanejo, Canas is one of the municipality's nine bordering barrios. It borders the municipality of...

    , El Tuque
    El Tuque
    El Tuque is a beach and family recreational and tourist complex in the Punta Cucharas sector of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was designed in the early 1960s by Luis Flores, an architect from Cayey, Puerto Rico. It is located on PR-2, Km 220.1, in the El Tuque sector of Barrio Canas in Ponce...

     sector
  • PR-52 in Playa
    Playa (Ponce)
    La Playa de Ponce, Ponce Playa, La Playa, or simply Playa, is one of the thirty-one barrios that comprise the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Bucaná, Canas, Vayas, and Capitanejo, Playa is one of the municipality's five coastal barrios...


Construction

The building of PR-9 is taking place in several phases. Phase I, already completed, consisted of the stretch of the road from PR-10 in Barrio Portugues
Portugués
Portugués is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Magueyes, Tibes, Monte Llano, Maragüez, Machuelo Arriba, Sabanetas, and Cerrillos, Portugués is one of the municipality's eight rural interior barrios.-Location:Portugués is a mountainous rural barrio located...

 to PR-123 in Barrio Magueyes
Magueyes
Magueyes is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Cerrillos, Machuelo Arriba, Maragüez, Monte Llano, Portugues, Sabanetas, and Tibes, Magueyes is one of the municipality's eight interior barrios. The name of this barrio is of native Indian...

.

Phase II consists of the stretch between PR-123 at barrio Magueyes to PR-132 in Barrio Canas
Canas (Ponce)
Canas is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Anón, Coto Laurel, Guaraguao, Quebrada Limón, Real, San Patricio, and Marueño, and the coastal barrio of Capitanejo, Canas is one of the municipality's nine bordering barrios. It borders the municipality of...

. As of August 18, 2010, the Phase II stretch was in the planning phase according to Puerto Rico's Commissioner of Transportation and Public Works
Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works
The Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works is a government agency of Puerto Rico regulating transportation and public works. The agency's headquarters are located in San Juan.-External links:*...

, Rubén A. Hernández Gregorat. Phase II is expected to cost $28 million. The length of this section is 2.61 kilometers. It includes three bridges: one will cross Río Canas, a second one will be an overpass for PR-123, and a third bridge will cross the access ramp to PR-123.

Phase III of PR-9 will run from PR-132 in Canas to PR-500 (with a connection to Avenida Las Americas) in barrio Canas Urbano
Canas Urbano
Canas Urbano is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Canas Urbano is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are now also part of the urban zone of the city of Ponce...

. It is expected to cost some $36 million. This section will have a length of 1.62 kilometers, and will require three bridges: One will be an overpass to Las Americas Avenue at PR-500, one crossing Rio Pastillo
Río Pastillo
Río Pastillo is a river in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is also known as "Rio Marueño". Together with Rio Canas, Rio Pastillo forms Rio Matilde. Rio Pastillo is one of the 14 rivers in the municipality.-Origin:...

, and one crossing PR-132.

The fourth and last portion of this project, Phase IV will consist of a stretch between PR-500 and PR-2
Puerto Rico Highway 2
Puerto Rico Highway 2, the longest highway in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico at about 156 miles long, connects San Juan to Ponce....

 via improvements to the existing 4-lane Avenida Baramaya roadway.

Completion of this last phase will make it possible to circumvent city traffic altogether by providing a loop around Ponce for motorists wishing access to areas north and northeast of the city from PR-2 in the El Tuque
El Tuque
El Tuque is a beach and family recreational and tourist complex in the Punta Cucharas sector of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was designed in the early 1960s by Luis Flores, an architect from Cayey, Puerto Rico. It is located on PR-2, Km 220.1, in the El Tuque sector of Barrio Canas in Ponce...

 sector of barrion Canas. It will, for example, be possible to travel from Mayaguez
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez is the eighth-largest municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" , "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" , or "Ciudad del Mangó"...

 to Adjuntas without the need to travel on the eastern segment of PR-10 near Mercedita Airport
Mercedita Airport
Mercedita Airport is a commercial airport located three miles east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The airport covers and has one runway. Passenger movement at the airport in FY 2008 was 278,911, an astounding 1,228% increase over fiscal year 2003 and the highest of all...

.

External links

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