National Route 4 (Costa Rica)


National Primary Route 4, or Route 4, officially known as Corredor Noratlántico is a national primary road, which covers the northern region of the country, through the provinces of Limón, Heredia, Alajuela and Guanacaste.

Description

Route 4 covers the north provinces of the country, and allows to travel between the Pacific Ocean districts and the Caribbean side of the country without going through the Greater Metropolitan Area at the central valley.
Together with Route 32, it forms the northwest end of the Corredor Norte-Caribe, which allows to traverse the country from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean sea.
According to National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models at the University of Costa Rica, Route 4 is not safe for the high vehicular traffic expected, and an intervention is required for further safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and inhabitants of the small villages along the road.
In Alajuela province the route covers San Carlos canton, Upala canton, Guatuso canton, Río Cuarto canton.
In Heredia province the route covers Sarapiquí canton.
In Guanacaste province the route covers La Cruz canton.
In Limón province the route covers Pococí canton.

History

Road construction from Bajos de Chilamate to Vuelta de Kooper

This is a segment planned since 1973, but construction started until 2013 and was opened in August 2017, it directly connects the then two endpoints of Route 4, at Bajos de Chilamate in Heredia province and Vuelta de Kooper in Alajuela province with a road of 27 km, single lane in each direction, and avoids the previous longer journey of 87.32 km which went through Route 126, Route 140, Route 250 and Route 751, and the towns of La Virgen, San Miguel, Venecia and Aguas Zarcas. This last segment finally concludes the construction of the originally planned Route 4.
The new section road includes eight major bridges, five junctions at ground level and five elevated bypasses.
Works were financed by Development Bank of Latin America, the central government and municipalities of San Carlos, Grecia, Sarapiquí and the regional North Huetar Special Economic Zone.