4x4abc
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MEX 2 highway
question for you all:
when was the MEX 2 highway built
I found that Camino Nacional, the old dirt highway was finished 1918
can't find a date for the newer paved highway
Harald Pietschmann
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Maderita
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Harald,
I assume that you are asking about the Rumorosa Grade, the approx. 20 mile section of Highway 2, between Laguna Salada and La Rumorosa?
Sorry, that I don't have the answer as to when the paved "libre" road was built. A wild guess is in the 1950s.
While driving it in the 1970s, a beer delivery truck overturned, scattering parts and beer bottles across both lanes. Traffic was backed up in both
directions. Everyone was out of their cars, guzzling beer like it was free or something, jajaja.
If you stumble upon the date that the 2D cuota was completed along the Rumorosa Grade, I'm curious. Seems like it was in the 1990s. I recall that work
was abandoned on the 2D for a few years when the privately funded venture went broke before completion.
Just 2 weeks ago, I was talking with my friend, don Alfredo, age 93. He described driving buses and trucks on the original dirt road to the south. I
asked him how they managed the hairpin turns. He said something about "muchos huevos". I said, "No thanks, I've already had breakfast". jajaja His
eyes lit up as he recalled the dangerous travel from Mexicali.
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Maderita
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Harald,
I came upon this. Looks like your answer is 1950.
https://lahistoria.info/historia-de-la-rumorosa/
La construcción de La Rumorosa fue un desafío técnico y logístico para los ingenieros y trabajadores que participaron en el proyecto. La
construcción de la carretera se llevó a cabo en etapas, comenzando en la década de 1920 y continuando hasta la década de 1950.
La fecha exacta de finalización de La Rumorosa es difícil de determinar debido a la naturaleza escalonada de la construcción. Sin embargo, la mayor
parte de la carretera se completó en la década de 1940 y se abrió al tráfico en 1950.
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David K
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The Auto Club maps offer a look at road progress from 1930 to 2010:
https://vivabaja.com/automobile-club-maps/
La Rumorosa was also called 'Alaska' back before the 60s.
In 1941, the road is shown but may not be paved:
https://octopup.org/img/media/maps/baja/1941--Special-Map-of...
In 1955, the road was already paved, and in the guidebook it was called a "new paved (asphalt) road" on page 47 of the Lower California Guidebook.
Map: https://octopup.org/img/media/maps/baja/1956--Lower-Californ...
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BajaNomad
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Thread Moved
9-26-2024 at 02:06 PM |
4x4abc
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looking at the shape of the road on old maps it seems like the new road that replaced Camino Nacional (which was only completed in 1918) was built in
the 1930's
so many documents about camino Nacional by Cantu - but none on the newer paved highway.
Harald Pietschmann
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4x4abc
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here is a facebook post that says 1946:
https://www.facebook.com/PeninsulaBajaCaliforniaoficial/phot...
Harald Pietschmann
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David K
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I remember my parents tried it (once) in the 1960s, coming home from San Felipe and points south. It was so slow a route, with trucks, etc. and no
passing lanes, they vowed to never go that way again and returned via Calexico and I-8 or Old Hwy. 80, as much of it still was then.
Just a 2-lane, paved road climbing steeply up the mountain.
I think many Mexicans who could drive across the border would cross at Calexico, if they wanted to get to Tijuana, and return to Mexico at San Ysidro.
The need for the new Mex 2-D, four lane highway up that mountain was major. I first drove it in 2001... very impressed, but still not as easy a dive
as I-8 up the mountain.
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