Mexican Federal Highway 2 Explained

Country:MEX
Type:FH
Route:2
Length Km:1987.34
Length Round:2
Length Ref:[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Direction A:West
Direction B:East
Section1:Western segment
Length Km1:1343.14
Terminus A1: in Tijuana
Junction1:
Terminus B1: at the Fort Hancock – El Porvenir International Bridge
Section2:Eastern segment
Length Km2:644.20
Terminus A2: at the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing
Junction2:
Terminus B2:Playa Lauro Villar at the Gulf of Mexico
States:Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas
Previous Type:FH
Previous Route:1D
Next Type:FH
Next Route:2D

Federal Highway 2 (Spanish; Castilian: '''Carretera Federal 2''', Fed. 2) is a free part of the Mexican federal highway corridors (Spanish; Castilian: 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 1987km (1,235miles); 1343km (835miles) in the west and 644km (400miles) 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", 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

|-|colspan=3 align=center|Western segment|-|B.C.|244.03km (151.63miles)|-|Son.|745.79km (463.41miles)|-|Chih.|353.32km (219.54miles)|-|Segment
total
|1343.14km (834.59miles)|-|colspan=3 style="text-align:center;" |Eastern segment|-|Coah.|204.02km (126.77miles)|-|N.L.|24km (15miles)|-|Tamps.|416.18km (258.6miles)|-|Segment
total
|644.2km (400.3miles)|-|Total|1987.34km (1,234.88miles)|}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.

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

Western segment

Eastern segment

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. Datos Viales de Baja California. PDF. 2011. es. 5–7. 2011-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20120316132500/http://dgst.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Viales_2011/02_BAJA_CALIFORNIA.pdf. 2012-03-16.
  2. Web site: Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. Datos Viales de Sonora. PDF. 2011. es. 4–6, 13. 2011-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20120316132517/http://dgst.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Viales_2011/26_SONORA.pdf. 2012-03-16.
  3. Web site: Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. Datos Viales de Chihuahua. PDF. 2011. es. 4, 7–8. 2011-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20120316132600/http://dgst.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Viales_2011/08_CHIHUAHUA.pdf. 2012-03-16.
  4. Web site: Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. Datos Viales de Coahuila. PDF. 2011. es. 8, 10. 2011-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20120316132425/http://dgst.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Viales_2011/05_COAHUILA.pdf. 2012-03-16.
  5. Web site: Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. Datos Viales de Nuevo León. PDF. 2011. es. 8. 2011-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20130717074303/http://dgst.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Viales_2011/19_NUEVO_LEON.pdf. 2013-07-17. dead.
  6. Web site: Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos, Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. Datos Viales de Tamaulipas. PDF. 2011. es. 8–11. 2011-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20120316132725/http://dgst.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Viales_2011/28_TAMAULIPAS.pdf. 2012-03-16.