Mexican Federal Highway 5

Federal Highway 5
Carretera Federal 5
Route information
Length:	200 km (124 mi)
Major junctions
South end:	San Felipe
	Mexican Federal Highway 2 in Mexicali Mexican Federal Highway 3 north of San Felipe
North end:	SR 111 at US-Mexico border near Mexicali
Highway system
Mexican Federal Highways ← Fed. 3 Fed. 8 →

Mexican Federal Highway (carretera federal) 5 follows the northeast length of the state of Baja California from the US-Mexico border in Mexicali at the northern end to San Felipe in the south.^[1][2] The highway is entirely inside the municipality of Mexicali. However, a state highway from San Felipe to Puertecitos (municipality of Ensenada) is usually considered part of the federal highway. From San Felipe to the south, the road follows the seacoast of the Gulf of California.

Route description

The road begins in the border city of Mexicali at the western border crossing. It has four lanes from there to ejido Venustiano Carranza (about 48 km or 30 mi). At this point it becomes a two-lane highway (with little or no shoulder in most areas) until km 160, about 18 km (11 mi) south of the junction with Mexican Federal Highway 3, and about 40 km (24 mi) north of San Felipe. From there, the highway is a broad, divided, four-lane highway with a median and ample shoulders, until it ends in San Felipe.

The new highway segments being constructed from San Felipe to the north are raised, with drainage culverts passing underneath the highway. These have replaced the dips, or fords (vados) that formerly provided drainage across the highway. The resulting highway is a much higher quality road.

Construction has begun (September 2009) on an interchange between highways 5 and 3, as well as a new improved segment of highway 5 north of the interchange. Construction has also begun (March 2010) on widening the highway from two lanes to four in a section from km 48 to the south.

Earthquake damage and repairs

The epicenter (32°15'32"N, 115°17'13.2"W) of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake on April 4, 2010 (2010 Baja California earthquake) is about 3 km east of the highway.^[3] Repairs on the highway began nearly immediately. From km 20 to km 38, SCT (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes) contractors are re-leveling the road and filling cracks. They will use detours to keep traffic moving while they do this work. From km 38 to km 49 they're building an unpaved detour to allow them to make repairs in this area.^[4]

The road to Puertecitos

The state route that starts in San Felipe and continues to Puertecitos is a natural extension of the federal highway. It is an undivided, two-lane highway that has some rough spots and has many significant dips or fords where the highway meets normally-dry steams. One of the largest is labeled on the pavement in both directions as the "OH SHIT DIP."

• 

  Road markings just south of the dip with the vado to the north beyond

• 

  The markings on the other side of the road with just the mountains to the north in the background

Baja California

• Mexicali intersection with Mexican Federal Highway 2
• El Chinero intersection with Mexican Federal Highway 3 north of San Felipe
• Puertecitos

References

1. ^ "Atlas por Entidad Federativa". Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes de México. http://dgp.sct.gob.mx/index.php?id=440. Retrieved August 28, 2009. 
2. ^ "Baja California". Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes de México. http://dgp.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Atlas/bajacalifornian.pdf. Retrieved August 28, 2009. 
3. ^ "Magnitude 7.2 - BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO". United States Geological Survey. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/ci14607652/. Retrieved April 10, 2010. 
4. ^ "Constructores locales reparan carretera a SF". La Voz de la Frontera. http://www.oem.com.mx/lavozdelafrontera/notas/n1589461.htm. Retrieved April 10, 2010.