BajaNomad

Mx5 work & update

PaulW - 3-30-2018 at 02:45 PM

From San Felipe - Spent the day (3/29) at Gonzaga and found the hwy is worse going south than north. Potholes abound. No repair noticed.

Meanwhile starting at Cow Paddy going north a construction company has made the typical bypass road when a new road is going to be built. At Cow Paddy its is on the west side and then it switches over to the east side for several KMs. The construction crew was off for the day and all the equipment was behind a fenced lot.

Btw, The holiday traffic was huge with people heading south. Beaches at Rancho Grande was packed with tents stacked very close all along the beach.

David K - 3-30-2018 at 03:13 PM

Hi Paul, so you are speaking of the older/ narrow Puertecitos highway, going north from Cow Patty's to Matomí Wash? Does it seem to be just a re-surfacing job or does it look like new style highway construction, if you could tell? Interesting they don't work from San Felipe south if it is a new highway (which will remain inland as the old road had, through or nearer to the sulfur mine).

PaulW - 3-30-2018 at 03:44 PM

Some of my specualtion
As you know the old-old Puerticitos road intersects the present Hwy 5 at/close to Matomi.
The new effort does go north from Cowpaddy, but not near Matomi so far.
At the area being discussed there are no parallel tracks that I know of, just Hwy 5 with fencing. Scraped area is between pavement and fence.
Note that if this part of Hwy 5 is under the jurisdiction of Ensenada not Mexicali like it it from San Felipe going south to the point of the mountain.

Agree the local speculation is a new Hwy 5 will follow OPR south from San Felipe. I doubt it will take the leg of Old-OPR that goes on the plateau and enters Matomi about 5 miles west of KM60?? But then I cannot imagine a new state of the art road that would not pass Matomi without a huge bridge. So maybe old-OPR make sense?? A bridge where old-OPR enters Matomi would be more narrow than further east where Hwy5 is now located.

For reference: Cowpaddy is at Km73. Matomi is Km60. Existing OPR intersects Hwy 5 at Km52.5

To confuse me even more that part of Hwy5 does not to have the horrible potholes like near Matomi. Cannot tell what is intended. Maybe just resurface, but I have not seen dirt bypass for resurface - just for new style rebuild. Just a wild guess.

PaulW - 4-20-2018 at 09:58 AM

Todays report not by me.
Subject work - Bypass road is now graded and ready for traffic. Details on how far is missing. Equipment yard has more stuff.

elfbrewery - 4-21-2018 at 09:26 AM

This is an excerpt from our recent travels for April 19-20.

It was really good to be prepared for the worst... 'cause it didn't turn out half-bad. It was less than 4 hours to Guerrero Negro, then the pot holes began. Most of them were filled, but NOT ALL! It was somewhere north of the turn-off to Rosalillito that I found myself patting the steering wheel and murmuring "sorry, van," <thump> "sorry, van." Things improved after Punta Prieta. The road deteriorated a bit before Laguna Chapala. We turned onto the dirt road for MEX-5. We took this road 25 years ago and have avoided it ever since. Wasn't as bad as I remembered. I remember it to be dusty and washboard. But, what is this new paved road paralleling our trail?? It went about 5 miles and then became just road bed for another mile or so before it vanished. But it did reappear. We got on and off it at times and it became confusing as to when we should or shouldn't be on it. We crossed a new bridge named something (Assturas?) V. When we got to bridge IV, we stayed on the new road bed, which turned out to be a slight mistake because the bridge was blocked off and we had to snake down a steep winding trail back to the old road. Once again we were alternating between new and old road and got to the established road on segments of paved road. It took us probably a little over an hour to cover the 23 miles. Now on to Punta Bufeo. We left Posada Concepcion about 07:50 MDT and arrived at Bufeo at 14:30 PDT, so 7 hours 40 minutes that day. Punta Bufeo is a community bounded by the Sea of Cortez and an airstrip. Just homes and our hotel. Nothing for us to do, except walk the beach and the runway. It apparently draws a big fishing crowd. With all the distant islands, the views were beautiful. The hotel ($600 MXN) runs power via generator, which it uses only in the summer. We had DC lights in our room for the dark hours, but nothing else, just shower, toilet and bed. However, the manager did show up punctually the next morning at 06:30 with a pot of coffee!

The next day began with 40 minutes of wonderful highway, then we returned to the old road, which was potholed and "groovy." We made San Felipe in 2 hours and then up to MEX-2D after 2 hours 10 minutes more. The Rumarosa always brings back memories of when we came down the Cantu Grade on our bicycles in 1990. We kind of groofed by not getting back on MEX-2D, but the "libre" had little traffic, so not such a big deal. Finding the border crossing in Tecate wasn't difficult. We joined the queue of about two dozen cars at 12:45 and were across at exactly 13:00. YIPPIE!

The whole journey was 636 miles in less than 14 hours. When MEX-5 is completely paved, it will definitely be an option. One side of me thinks, "Couldn't we have avoided the dirt road one more time?" but the other side says, "It was good to experience it one last time before it vanishes into the desert."

David K - 4-21-2018 at 10:00 AM

Thanks for that report.

'Las Arrastras' is the region north of Coco's Corner they are naming bridges after because the arroyo is so named by the Mexican topo maps. Historically, it is Arroyo San Francisquito to where it merges with Arroyo Santa María, near the gulf coast (a roadside rest stop and view area with a monument is at the Arroyo Santa María bridge, here still called 'Las Arrastras' by the highway sign makers).

More on the history of Las Arrastras (gold ore mills) located where the Coco's Corner bypass and older roads merge on the north end: https://www.bajabound.com/bajaadventures/bajatravel/las_arra...






[Edited on 4-21-2018 by David K]

zipitio - 6-26-2018 at 04:38 PM

Thank you Baja Nomad members for all your important info. It took us, approximately, 2 hrs to traverse from Chapala Junction to beginning of paved section. We were our Toyota Sienna van. Moving between 10-25mph. Taking our time and enjoying the views. Also, stopped to say hi to Coco (20 minutes talking and drinking his cool Coca Colas). I asked him when, he believed, road would finally be paved. He, jokingly, replied:
"In fifty years" :biggrin:.

[Edited on 6-26-2018 by zipitio]

David K - 6-26-2018 at 04:48 PM

Was the bypass open... in other words, is the part of the new highway that misses Coco's now open... is it paved yet? Was there a signed road off of it to Coco's? OR... is the road by Coco's still the route for public traffic?

Thank you!

Any Nomads that have a pen and paper, jot down new kilometer markers at any points, south of Km. 167, please.

zipitio - 6-26-2018 at 06:15 PM

I did not see any official detours bypassing Coco's corner. It appear to me that "old" route is still the public route. The only active work we saw was on the Laguna Chapala side. They were paving the first 6 to 10 kms. from Hwy 1 junction.
Coco claimed that once road is finished that it will be off limits to trailer trucks. Any info on this?

[Edited on 6-27-2018 by zipitio]

rts551 - 6-26-2018 at 06:21 PM

All the paving is being done at Chapala. There is approx 3-4 miles completed and they are working on more. It is not open yet because they are completing the curbing over the dry lake bed section. The bypass route has not been worked on in quiet a while as the heavy equipment is still concentrating on blasting through the mountain. It is passable but is not the normal route people travel...that is still through Coco's. This contractor is much slower than ones past...and get ready for a work stoppage and new contractor after the election...always happens.

David K - 6-26-2018 at 07:13 PM

Thank you, Ralph... a very informative reply.
So no betting on a competition date, I guess?

rts551 - 6-26-2018 at 07:15 PM

fifty years. And I do not see them limiting traffic...one of the reasons for the road was to push tractor trailers into Mexicali.

thebajarunner - 6-27-2018 at 03:40 PM

Agreed on the tractor trailer topic.
We were there last year, spent the night close to Coco.
The semis, mostly Rodriguez LP trucks rumbled through night and day.
Of course that was when the big "Huelga" parties were clogging the streets of San Quintin, but nonetheless it cuts off major miles and time to send produce north into Arizona and beyond.

"50 years" Nah, not a chance.
Couple more years and it will be essentially completed IMO.

David K - 6-27-2018 at 06:17 PM

From Km. 74 (Puertecitos) to Km. 167 (12 mi south of Gonzaga Pemex/76 gas station) the rate of construction and paving had been pretty consistent at approx. 10 kms per year. Now its been about 4 years of almost no new paving open on the final 20-23 miles to Highway 1.

55steve - 6-27-2018 at 08:57 PM

I've driven the road 4 times in the last 4 weeks and only went past Coco's once opting to take the bypass road the other times. Ran the new pavement for about 1/2 mile from Chapala for close to 5 miles and headed down the somewhat steep embankment back to the dirt. Destination was Papa Fernandez.

[Edited on 6-28-2018 by 55steve]

Frank - 6-27-2018 at 09:00 PM

I went through this morning, northbound. 50 minutes in a loaded down 4Runner. When I went southbound through Mex5 I came up on a sign at a fork in the road that pointed left to Cocos Corner, to the right was uphill. I went right. Don’t go right, if your pulling a trailer or in a motor home. It was a great drive, just tight in a few places (boulders and rubble
piles) and a little rough.

A few pics....






thebajarunner - 6-28-2018 at 09:10 AM

It has frustrated me for several years that they have prepped a significant portion on both ends, yet have deferred final paving of those sections.
They could easily shrink the gap by half in short order, then continue focus on the really tough mid section.
While the mid stretch may yet be a couple years off, the essential amount of unpaved road could be completed quite quickly.

As a developer who has installed streets and roads for the past 40 years I can only scratch my head and wonder what logic drives these projects....

BajaUtah - 6-28-2018 at 09:32 AM

If there is any logic to it (huge if) they don't want to encourage more traffic on to that stretch by paving the ends. More traffic would make their jobs more difficult and beat up their completed work even faster.

Just a BA Guess

David K - 6-28-2018 at 11:34 AM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaUtah  
If there is any logic to it (huge if) they don't want to encourage more traffic on to that stretch by paving the ends. More traffic would make their jobs more difficult and beat up their completed work even faster.

Just a BA Guess


That is why it seems odd that the section of Hwy. 5 from Hwy. 1 is paved for a few miles (per Ralph). They could easily pave the north end (including Coco's bypass) right to the mountain cut and then detour to the construction route. That wouldn't 'add' new traffic as the Chapala paved end could.

PaulW - 6-28-2018 at 11:51 AM

The last time a paving project occurred we found the the government in Mexico City provides allocation for the asphalt. Very bureaucratic process and very slow getting the stuff.

AKgringo - 6-28-2018 at 12:01 PM

The reason for paving the south end of hwy 5 first, might be as simple as proximity to the batch plant they set up for this project, and production capacity. But that is just a guess!

rts551 - 6-28-2018 at 06:11 PM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
The reason for paving the south end of hwy 5 first, might be as simple as proximity to the batch plant they set up for this project, and production capacity. But that is just a guess!


Last year there was a batch plant set up on the north end as well. You can see the remnants of it.

David...The North side is no longer ready for pavement. too long a time with too many cars going around the barriers. The road bed will have to be rebuilt.

Some people are trying to drive on the pavement jumping off the embankment at the last minute, some places showing erosion already.

At this rate it will never get finished.

willardguy - 6-28-2018 at 06:41 PM

you mean this isn't going to be AMLO's top priority??:o

thebajarunner - 6-28-2018 at 08:34 PM

Sad to see how it was really prepped 18 months ago out of Gonzaga and now apparently will have to be re-done.
Still a mystery to me why they don't blacktop as they go.
Lots of effort to just do over again.
And, sure would be easier for the workers and the equipment to access the job site on pavement and not on rocks.

Just an unofficial look at the terrain and status, I would think that if they pushed hard that they could pave from both ends to a stretch no more than a couple miles in the middle. Apparently that makes too much sense....

Von - 7-8-2018 at 02:58 PM

Well Ill be heading rt though there tomorrow , I hope my Subi does ok

im sure It will be ok, I went by 3yrs ago and did ok.

rts551 - 7-8-2018 at 03:26 PM

The road is showing a lot of wear. Blacktop still not open as of yesterday. Barriers knocked down on the new roadbed to the east of pavement so won't be long for that to be ruined as well. New government installed in December...don't know whether that will help or not.

rts551 - 7-8-2018 at 03:28 PM

Wondering what happened? The original contractor had all new equipment and hundreds of people working. Was stopped because the cactus were not being protected. Subsequent contractors were slow (at least three that I know of). In Mexico there are not many multi-year contracts.

Hwy 1 Condition south of km 46 north of Puertocitos

RFClark - 7-21-2018 at 02:42 PM

We were down as far as were the new construction road cuts into the old road past Coco’s a few weeks ago. The heavy truck traffic is still going by Coco’s. There has been an attempt to block the sand shortcut to Coco’s, it was still passable however. The truck traffic has increased to 10 or more trucks per hr 24 hrs a day with a fair number of them having Jake brakes. Heavier during the week from 4:00 to 22:00.

We came back via the construction road that bipasses Coco’s, it is passable in a 2x drive if you are careful. The road north of Puertocitos is being upgraded and widened. There is the usual bypass road. Looks like they are planning to go as far north as the well with the improvements. (km 64 or so)

Both the gas station at Gonzaga and Puertocitos have been upgraded to solar power to pump gas. Both had gas and were open! Next offical gas station south of Gonzaga is over 100Km at Jesus and Maria on HWY 1.

Driving to Todos Santos next month. I’ll post updates from that trip.

Howard - 7-21-2018 at 06:33 PM

Some of you people owe me some beers! You were believers that the road would be paved soon.

The bet was several years ago, OK, who want to confess that beers are still owed?

rts551 - 7-21-2018 at 08:14 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Howard  
Some of you people owe me some beers! You were believers that the road would be paved soon.

The bet was several years ago, OK, who want to confess that beers are still owed?


Me...but I admitted that last time you brought this up.

AKgringo - 7-21-2018 at 08:34 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Howard  
Some of you people owe me some beers! You were believers that the road would be paved soon.

The bet was several years ago, OK, who want to confess that beers are still owed?



I told you I would leave a couple of brews at Coco's for you! Didn't you get them?

rts551 - 7-22-2018 at 07:47 AM

The new section is not open yet. ANd road crews are trying hard to keep people off while they finish curbing and stripping. Unfortunately, some insist and they are causing erosion on the sides of the road bank before there is an opportunity to put the curb in.

David K - 7-22-2018 at 08:36 AM

If anyone is on the newest part of Hwy. 5 (between Km. 167 and Hwy. 1), and has the desire to take notes, I would sure enjoy hearing of the newest km. markers at points along the road or where the pavement ends now if a new section is open south of Km. 167. Naturally, let us know when the Coco bypass is open (ie. highway route between Las Arrastras and the canyon section).
Thanks!

tobias - 7-22-2018 at 09:39 AM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
Quote: Originally posted by Howard  
Some of you people owe me some beers! You were believers that the road would be paved soon.

The bet was several years ago, OK, who want to confess that beers are still owed?



I told you I would leave a couple of brews at Coco's for you! Didn't you get them?


I really like the idea of buying each other beers at coco's. I might have to drop a few pesos there next time i pass through , set up some sort of tab with coco

BajaMama - 7-22-2018 at 10:15 AM

So... stupid question #342: I drive alone with my dog, am highly considering going up MX5 through Mexicali for a change of scenery. I drive an old lady AWD SUV that requires premium fuel. Gas mileage wise (if the road was paved all the way) I can make the distance from Jesus Maria to San Felipe, but just in case the dirt sections eat up my gas (don't ask) do either of the solar powered stations have premium gas? Also, is the road easy to follow? It is hard to tell with all the comments about by-passes!

tobias - 7-22-2018 at 10:19 AM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaMama  
So... stupid question #342: I drive alone with my dog, am highly considering going up MX5 through Mexicali for a change of scenery. I drive an old lady AWD SUV that requires premium fuel. Gas mileage wise (if the road was paved all the way) I can make the distance from Jesus Maria to San Felipe, but just in case the dirt sections eat up my gas (don't ask) do either of the solar powered stations have premium gas? Also, is the road easy to follow? It is hard to tell with all the comments about by-passes!

Are you sure your SUV needs premium? That is usually only very high performance stuff.
Even then , you can easily get away with a few tanks here and there of normal gasoline.

bajabuddha - 7-22-2018 at 10:23 AM

BajaMama, even if they don't have premium I think putting in 200 pesos worth of regular isn't gonna hurt anything, enough to get you to San Flip no problem-o.

PaulW - 7-22-2018 at 10:30 AM

Gas at Gonzaga has always been 87 octane with 91 octane prices. Don't know about Puerticitos. If you really have to have 91 octane then you should be carrying octane improver in a small bottle. That is what the racer guys do. It allows getting fuel in the boondocks that only sell regular and not harming the motor. All the auto stores sell an octane improver and usually have choices of brands. BTW, my sons racer that has to have 91 octane in CA works great on the 87 octane PMEX. Conclusion is PMEX sells good stuff.
I agree with the comment above I have never heard of an SUV that wont work just fine on the lowest octane.

TMW - 7-22-2018 at 10:42 AM

My wife's Acura requires premium and on a few occasions I forgot and put regular in it. Never noticed anything different while driving. By the way the 23 miles of graded road at slow speed will not change your gas mileage that much. The cars computer will compensate for the octane change.

AKgringo - 7-22-2018 at 10:42 AM

My old Kia Sportage has surprisingly high compression. It gets better mileage, and performs better on hills with premium, but a few tanks of regular will not harm it. I do carry a couple of bottles of octane booster with me if the performance becomes an issue.

Sometimes I suspect that even when I pay extra for the good stuff, it s a blend, and is not up to the performance I expect. That is as true in the US as it is in Mexico!

I also travel alone/with dog, and there are so many more cool places on Mex 5 for us to check out, that I can't see traveling down the pacific side in the near future. (unless of course, I need to carry fuel and gear for bikers riding the seven sisters!

By the way, Coco's is a great stop, but be in control of your dog, because he has cats. My girl is ok with cats, but I do not let her run loose there anyway.

PaulW - 7-22-2018 at 01:37 PM

If you have a modern vehicle and the manual says to use premium fuel and you put regular in it the electronics will detune the motor to avoid damage and the result is what AKgringo says.
All my new vehicle owner manual has a discussion telling that regular results in less performance.
Bottom line is go ahead and use regular and don't worry.
Its is pretty hard to justify the extra cost for premium for a hardly detectable change in performance.

BajaMama - 7-22-2018 at 03:29 PM

My car is An Acura MDX, and octane level does make a difference - I love the BCS premium and the premium on Oregon! Always get better mileage. I will put it a bit of regular if need be.

So, Mx5 is easy/obvous to follow?

JZ - 7-22-2018 at 03:48 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaMama  


So, Mx5 is easy/obvous to follow?


You should be using Google Maps on your phone.

There is cell service to a bit below San Felipe. To use it past there, download the area you'll be in for offline (no cell service) use.

https://youtu.be/n2clgre1yOE

Octane

thebajarunner - 7-22-2018 at 05:25 PM

I have a good friend who is the major gas distributor for our area.
He says "Don't sweat the octane.... I put regular in my BMW"

So, I asked my mechanic when I took my own high compression rather expensive German car in for service (last time I mentioned the make all the trolls went nutzo so let's just leave it at this description)

And my mechanic says "Absolutely, burn any octane you wish and the computer will immediately compensate for the lower octane. Of course, when you bought these neat cars, that really perform, you intended to get out of them what they were designed to do. Asking the computer to lower your performance to save twenty cents a gallon seems like a pretty silly thing to do, but it won't hurt it."

rts551 - 7-22-2018 at 05:49 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BajaMama  
My car is An Acura MDX, and octane level does make a difference - I love the BCS premium and the premium on Oregon! Always get better mileage. I will put it a bit of regular if need be.

So, Mx5 is easy/obvous to follow?


The part you wonder about is 23 miles of dirt road. It is easy to follow as there is quiet a bit of traffic...all that traffic comes at a price though. The road is washboard or is very rocky/worn. You will make it but must go slow and watch for damaging larger rocks.

SuperScrappy - 8-9-2018 at 08:20 AM

We just came thru Mex 5 over the weekend. They are working hard on re-paving the road near of Puertecitos, new bridges, lots of heavy equipment and workers. The side dirt road is in fairly good shape, better than the paved road was with the pot holes. There is still a section of "paved" road thru the dips that has a lot of pot hole and they are not working on this section. There is minimal new activity on the old dirt section after Gonzaga. There is a section that is paved on the mountain pass, that is "closed" but people are able to drive around the dirt piles and drive on the pavement. Overall, it took us 40 minutes to take the 23 mile dirt section, we took the newer section of dirt that bypasses Cocos.

tuckles - 9-27-2018 at 04:27 PM

Super-

"There is a section that is paved on the mountain pass, that is "closed" but people are able to drive around the dirt piles and drive on the pavement".

How will I know when to drive around the dirt piles and get on the pavement? Is it obvious? What marker or any more information will help.
I am driving down on Oct 10. Has anyone been on the road in the last couple of weeks? This is my first time on the 23 mile stretch. Any tips or pointers are appreciated.

David K - 9-27-2018 at 05:32 PM

Quote: Originally posted by tuckles  
Super-

"There is a section that is paved on the mountain pass, that is "closed" but people are able to drive around the dirt piles and drive on the pavement".

How will I know when to drive around the dirt piles and get on the pavement? Is it obvious? What marker or any more information will help.
I am driving down on Oct 10. Has anyone been on the road in the last couple of weeks? This is my first time on the 23 mile stretch. Any tips or pointers are appreciated.


In my August TRIP #8 report, I drove all the paved miles and as much of the unpaved new roadbed as possible in order to update my maps and road logs for the future.

Southbound, you can stay on the new paved road and stay on the new roadbed without fear of unfinished bridges or other hazards.

When you near Las Arrastras is where the original road vis Coco's Corner goes off to the left and all 2WD cars and trailers should continue to use. However, if you are in a 4WD type vehicle and not towing you could stay on the new roadbed to almost the high point near the canyon where a 3/4 mile rough detour drops you down to the older route. The new roadbed on ahead, where it cuts into the canyon and approaches the construction camp appears not passable.

The south end new pavement begins just before entering the Chapala Valley. In about a mile you come to a detour (to the right) road sign and again, if you are not in a 4WD or towing, you should probably go down to the old road. Otherwise, you can continue on the pavement which ends 1 mile from Hwy. 1. Where it ends is a deep dust section (4WD best) to return to the road on to Hwy. 1.

The exact mileages and photos are in the trip report: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=91029



[Edited on 9-28-2018 by David K]

PaulW - 1-15-2019 at 10:52 AM

Here is the latest on road funding
The Federal government authorized the first projects to be carried out during the present fiscal year in Ensenada.

In The 2019 budget of the Federation, projects are already authorised in the field of road infrastructure, including 200 million pesos for the road transpeninsular Ensenada-Lázaro Cárdenas, in the section of the delegation of maneadero to punta colonet, 155 Millions of pesos for the continuation of the inlet of Ensenada and

50 million pesos for San Felipe-Puertecitos in the section of the village countryside los olivos to puertecitos.

Missing is funding south to Hwy1