Mexican Federal Highway 2

Federal Highway 2 shield
Federal Highway 2
Carretera federal 2
Route information
Maintained by Secretariat of Communications and Transportation
Length1,987.34 km[1][2][3][4][5][6] (1,234.88 mi)
Western segment
Length1,343.14 km[1][2][3] (834.59 mi)
West end Fed. 1 in Tijuana
Major intersections
East end FM 1088 at the Fort Hancock – El Porvenir International Bridge
Eastern segment
Length644.20 km[4][5][6] (400.29 mi)
West end Spur 349 at the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing
Major intersections
East endPlaya Lauro Villar at the Gulf of Mexico
Location
CountryMexico
StatesBaja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas
Highway system
← Fed. 1D→ Fed. 2D

Federal Highway 2 (Spanish: Carretera Federal 2, Fed. 2) is a free part of the Mexican federal highway corridors (los corredores carreteros federales) that runs along the U.S. border. The highway is in two separate improved segments, starting in the west at Tijuana, Baja California, on the Pacific coast and ending in the east in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on the Gulf of Mexico. Fed. 2 passes through the border states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. It has a total length of 1,987 kilometres (1,235 mi); 1,343 kilometres (835 mi) in the west and 644 kilometres (400 mi) in the east.

Fed. 2 has a connection to all official ports of entry into the United States, with the exception of the international bridge between Ojinaga, Chihuahua, and Presidio, Texas, which is between the two highway segments. These ports of entry allow road access to the four border states of the United States: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. As a result, customs inspection stations are common along some stretches of the highway.

Both segments of Fed. 2 are located entirely within the "Hassle Free Zone",[clarification needed] which is the zone where a temporary import permit is not required for foreign vehicles. Tourist cards are only required to be obtained by tourists traveling on Fed. 2 between Sonoyta, Sonora, and Cananea, Sonora. The rest of Fed. 2 can be traveled without obtaining a tourist card as long as the stay does not last longer than 72 consecutive hours.

Route description

Lengths
  km[1][2][3][4][5][6] mi
Western segment
B.C. 244.03 151.63
Son. 745.79 463.41
Chih. 353.32 219.54
Segment
total 		1,343.14 834.59
Eastern segment
Coah. 204.02 126.77
N.L. 24.00 14.91
Tamps. 416.18 258.60
Segment
total 		644.20 400.29
Total 1,987.34 1,234.88

Fed. 2 is divided into two discontinuous segments. The western segment begins in Tijuana, Baja California, and terminates at El Porvenir, Chihuahua, near Ciudad Juárez. The eastern segment begins at Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, and continues to the Gulf of Mexico at Playa Bagdad, Tamaulipas, in Matamoros.

Between Tijuana and Mexicali in Baja California, and again between Reynosa and Matamoros in Tamaulipas, the route is bypassed by Fed. 2D, a four-lane controlled-access toll road referred to in Mexico as an autopista. Fed. 2 is considered to be part of Pacific Coastal Highway from Tijuana to Fed. 15 in Sonora.

Fed. 2 passes through the border states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. The highway also has connecting access to every official port of entry into the United States with the exception of the international bridge between Ojinaga, Chihuahua, and Presidio, Texas, which is within the gap between the two highway segments. These ports of entry enable access from the highway to all four United States border states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. As a result, customs inspection stations are common along some sections of the highway.

Eastbound Fed. 2 just outside Altar, Sonora, after a summer rain

The joining of the separate improved segments would not decrease travel time as the route follows the course of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte) around the Big Bend region of Texas. The gap between the two is more directly crossed by traveling along Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 90 in the United States.

Major intersections

Colorado Bridge, a toll bridge over the Colorado River connecting the states of Baja California and Sonora

Western segment

The junction between Federal Highways 2 and 15 in rural Imuris, Sonora. Fed. 2 travels east towards Agua Prieta and Ciudad Juarez while Fed. 15 continues northward towards the U.S.-Mexican border crossing in Heroica Nogales, Sonora.

Eastern segment


See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Datos Viales de Baja California" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. 2011. pp. 5–7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  2. ^ a b c "Datos Viales de Sonora" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. 2011. pp. 4–6, 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  3. ^ a b c "Datos Viales de Chihuahua" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. 2011. pp. 4, 7–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  4. ^ a b c "Datos Viales de Coahuila" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. 2011. pp. 8, 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  5. ^ a b c "Datos Viales de Nuevo León" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. 2011. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  6. ^ a b c "Datos Viales de Tamaulipas" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. 2011. pp. 8–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-10-17.