CA-13 (Central America)

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Central American Highway 13

Carretera centroamericana 13 (Spanish)
Route information
Length795 km (494 mi)
Major junctions
FromMelchor de Mencos, Petén, Guatemala
East endPuerto Castilla, Colón, Honduras
Location
CountryGuatemala
Highway system

CA-13 (abbreviation for Carretera Centroamericana 13 in Spanish) is a highway that connects several population centers in northeastern Guatemala and northern Honduras, specifically the city of Flores in the center of the Department of Petén, the coastal city of Puerto Barrios in the Department of Izabal, in addition to several Honduran ports such as Puerto Cortes, La Ceiba and Puerto Castilla.

The Rio Dulce Bridge in the Department of Izabal, which is part of the CA-13

The road is approximately 795 km long according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Communications, Public Works, Infrastructure and Transportation of Guatemala and Honduras.[1]

According to CEPAL ( Spanish: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ) reports published in 1962, it is estimated that Guatemala government would be required to contribute around US$3.7 million, while estimates for the Honduran counterpart are US$5 million for the construction of the section of CA-13 that runs through the northern departments.[2] In May 1994, a resolution was made by the "Comisión Mixta Binacional de Carreteras" (lit. Binational Joint Road Commission) between representatives of Guatemala and Honduras to specifically connect Puerto Barrios with Puerto Cortes through the CA-13.[3]

In mid-2019, the organization Inversiones Estratégicas de Honduras (Invest-H) conducted several studies of various sections connecting CA-13 between the Department of Atlantida and Colon, specifically for the widening of this highway around the Cangregal River.[4] The CA-13 highway is important for transportation in Honduras because it connects the main commercial and touristic points of the Caribbean Coast of the country, therefore plans have been previously made to rehabilitate it, as in the case of 2007, where the Inter-American Bank approved a 40 million dollar project to rehabilitate the highway.[5] After several accident reports, several Honduran newspapers reported that the stretch connecting La Ceiba and Trujillo is one of the most damaged sections of the CA-13 within Honduras.[6]

In April 2023, the government of Guatemala announced projects to improve the infrastructure of the CA-13, specifically the section that connects Puerta del Cielo with Melchor de Mencos.[7] According to the local government of Petén, the process of resurfacing highway CA-13 took about 2 decades to be approved by both the national and departmental governments to rehabilitate the northern sectors of the road between Puerta del Cielo to Bajo del Venado.[8]

Route

Guatemala

The CA-13 Highway begins in Melchor de los Mencos, a border town with Belize, and runs through part of the north of the department of Petén until it reaches the capital city of Flores. From this section the route goes to the south of the department, connecting the towns of Santa Ana, El Chal, Dolores, Poptún and San Luís until it reaches the border with the Department of Izabal.

The section of CA-13 that starts in Izabal, connects the towns of Chocchoc, Samayi until reaching Rio Dulce where there is a bridge to cross to the other side of Lake Izabal, from there this section of the CA-13 goes far south and connects the small towns of Benque and La Ruidosa. From this point, the route goes eastward and connects the towns of Entre Ríos and Banderas until it reaches the Honduran border.

Honduras

The section of the CA-13 that begins in Honduras is in the town of Corinto located on the border of Guatemala and connects the towns of Cuyamel, Veracruz, Omoa and Puerto Cortés in the Department of Cortés. Until reaching the capital of Honduras, San Pedro de Sula, from there, the CA-13 will go much further east crossing part of the Department of Progreso to then communicate with the port of Tela located in the Department of Atlantida and the municipalities of Arizona and La Ceiba located in the same department. Then the CA-13 extends to the Department of Colón and communicates the city of Tocoa, Corocito until it reaches the coast near Puerto Castilla.

References

  1. ^ "Red de carreteras centroamericanas" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  2. ^ "Red Vial Centroamericana". Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (in Spanish). p. 51. Retrieved 2024-05-09. El costo de la construcción de los tramos guatemalteco y hondureño han estimado en 3.7 y 5.0 millones de dólares, respectivamente, que aún no tienen financiamiento. Esta ruta forma parte del sistema de comunicaciones del noroeste de Honduras
  3. ^ Plan de Desarrollo Sostenible de La Zona Fronteriza Guatemala-Honduras En Torno Al Golfo de Honduras (in Spanish). p. 30. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  4. ^ "Honduras inicia estudios para rehabilitar carretera CA-13". Carreteras Pan-americanas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  5. ^ "BID aprueba US$ 40 millones a Honduras para Corredor Turístico del Caribe". BID (in Spanish).
  6. ^ Molina, Carlos (2023-12-14). "Destruida la carretera CA-13 entre La Ceiba y Trujillo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  7. ^ "El Ministerio de Comunicaciones trabaja en el mejoramiento de la carretera CA-13 Puerta del Cielo, Melchor de Mencos, Petén". Gobierno de la República de Guatemala (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  8. ^ "Proyecto de asfalto carretera CA-13 norte que conduce del Caserío Puerta del Cielo a Bajo del Venado, Melchor de Mencos". Gobernación Departamentel de Petén (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-08.

External links