The Coastal Highway

The Coastal Highway connects the Gulf of Santa Clara with Puerto Penasco, Rocky Point Mexico. The coastal highway now opens up the Sonoran Gold CoAst to faster and easier access to Baja residents and those in the Western United State. What traditionally has been a destination for Arizona , the new Coastal Highway will provide residence from California a convenient means by which to reach Puerto Peñasco. At a cost of $600 million pasos, the 83 mile stretch of highway will reduce travel time between the California border and Rocky Point by 2 hours. In the pass, travelers from Southern California and Baja California had to drive Mexican Route 2 through Sonoyta and then south on Highway 8 to reach Puerto Peñasco.

Eventually the coastal highway will stretch 310 miles along the Sea of Cortez coast to the southern tip of the state of Sonora in Guaymas San Carlos. The new section of highway between Santa Clara and Puerto Peñasco has three rest stops that include education stands covered by Palapas that describe the animals species inhabiting the surround mountains regions.

The New Coastal Highway promises to help El Golfo de Santa Clara, Son., diversity its economy by drawing more tourists. It branches off from the existing El Golfo highway and provides a quicker route south from San Luis Rio Colorado, will be "a trigger" for tourism to the fishing village located on the Sea of Cortez, says Celio Angulo, El Golfo's municipal delegate.

And for those tourists who want to go farther south, it continues on to another popular beachside attraction, the city of Puerto Penasco, or Rocky Point.

Motorists who want to take the new route to El Golfo will pay a toll of 94 pesos, or a little more than $7 in American currency, to pick up the new highway on the east side of San Luis Rio Colorado, but Angulo said the tradeoff is a better, wider road that will shave 30 minutes off their trip.

Unlike the older, two-lane road that winds through an agricultural valley on its way to El Golfo, the new highway is a more direct route south from San Luis Rio Colorado. At the community of El Doctor, the new highway links up with the existing roadway, which has been rebuilt.

To access the highway, visitors from the United States cross the border at San Luis Rio Colorado and follow Obregon Avenue east from the city until they arrive at the toll booth.