Mexican Federal Highway 40
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Mexican Federal Highway 40, also called the "Carretera Interoceánica" (Interoceanic Highway) is a road beginning at Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and ending at Mazatlán, Sinaloa, at the Pacific coast. It is called Interoceanic as, once finished, the cities of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on the Gulf of Mexico, and Mazatlán, Sinaloa, at the Pacific Ocean, were linked.
It passes through Monterrey, Nuevo León; Saltillo, Coahuila; Torreón, Coahuila; Gómez Palacio, Durango and Durango, Durango. The Monterrey to Saltillo section is a 4 lane divided highway. The rest of the road is a 2 lane undivided road.
Parallel to this Highway, in some sections, runs the Mexican Federal Highway 40D, which is a 4 lane restricted access toll road.
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[edit] Reynosa, Tamaulipas to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
Mexican Federal Highway 40 is a 4 lane divided unrestricted access road from Reynosa to La Junta, Nuevo Leon. Then the highway is divided onto Highway 40 and Highway 40D. Highway 40 continues as a 2 lane undivided road, passing through several small towns including: Peña Blanca, Nuevo Leon General Bravo China Cadereyta
[edit] Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, to Saltillo, Coahuila
Mexican Federal Highway 40 is a 4 lane divided unrestricted access road from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon to Saltillo, Coahuila. The Road crosses the Sierra Madre Oriental that divides Coahuila and Nuevo León.
[edit] Saltillo, Coahuila to Torreon, Coahuila
From Saltillo the road continues to be a 4 lane unrestricted access road. After the town El Meson, the road splits into a 4 Lane toll Road 40D and a 2 lane 2 way undivided unrestricted road. Both roads merge together again in 28 de Agosto town and begins the 4 lane divided unrestricted highway again. A few kilometers ahead you can find the road junction south to Parras, Coah. At La cuchilla the road splits again into 40 and 40D, besides these options, you can consider Federal Highway 30 to San Pedro, which it eventually becomes a 4 lane divided unrestricted road and leads directly to northern Torreon. At the city of Matamoros, Coahuila the roads merge again into a 4 lane divided unrestricted highway until you reach Torreon.
Click here to view a clip of 40D Highway
[edit] Torreon, Coahuila to Gomez Palacio, Durango
Torreon, Coahuila and Gomez Palacio, Durango form a metro area. At Gomez Palacio, Highway 40 merges with highway 49 that comes from the north. At Gomez Palacio you can choose between 40-49 and 40-49D, the difference here is that both roads are 4 lane divided until the first toll booth.
[edit] Gomez Palacio, Durango to Durango, Durango
At Gomez palacio you can choose between the toll road and the unrestricted road. At Cuencame, Durango, the roads splits, Highway 49 continues south to Zacatecas (and México City) and Highway 40 continues west to Durango.
[edit] Durango, Durango to Mazatlan, Sinaloa
This section of the highway is called "Espinazo del Diablo", officially, only a bridge is called like that, but everyone knows the highway by that name. It's a very dangerous highway, extremely narrow, with lots of curves, and in the winter months, there is extra danger because of ice formation. When going eastbound, Mazatlan to Durango, after reaching the top of the Sierra Madre, the highway becomes more or less linear, and it goes thru the towns of El Salto, La Ciudad and El Soldado, it continues linear up to a point around 30 kilometers from Durango, and it goes downhill and with lots of curves again. In all the downhill sections, the use of engine brake is encouraged. There is a project going on currently to build a new highway, which will include around 100 bridges and tunnels.
