Road south to Caborca is unsafe!

[capt. k]

The potholes on the road to Caborca are unsafe between Mayan Palace and customs checkpoint. Hit so hard I delaminated a tire on my truck and broke the frame on my trailer. Not sure if my front end will ever be the same! These huge potholes will kill someone on a motorcycle. Some are over one foot deep! Municipality of Puerto Penasco is responsible for the maintenance in this area and they obviously don't care. If anyone has any pull with the mayor perhaps they can pressure him.

 

[jerry]

Heys it's el Gigante! The yellow tire repair sigh is strategically placed just past it!

 

[JimMcG]

That road hasn't really been in that bad of a shape recently and certainly has been a lot worse in the past. It would be hard to imagine not seeing the pot hole ahead of time unless driving during the night.

 

[jerry]

That road hasn't really been in that bad of a shape recently and certainly has been a lot worse in the past. It would be hard to imagine not seeing the pot hole ahead of time unless driving during the night.

You guys are wrong...of course everything is always the stupid Americans fault and the wonderful Mexican people never do wrong in Booster World but on these god damn holes you go for miles dodging shallow ones then out of the blue you hit a big one...no where to go because some Gordo asshole in a Bimbo Bread truck is in the passing lane and forcing you to hit the hole.... because...well let's just say Mexicans can have a bit of a cruel streak..The good news:::Easter is coming so it should all be fixed this week
Let's also not forget why it's such a mess.Ex Gov. Padres looted every last peso sent from Mexico City to Sonora.He stole all the money meant for the coastal highway,much of thestupid Homeport cash and while he was at it looted the Caborca hospital of all medicines...PAN....PRI. The choice between cancer and Polio

 

[JimMcG]

The only wise move to make when a Mexican highway is deteriorating as reported, is to keep your head and slow down and drive even more defensively than normal. Given the current mood of US/Mexico relations, now is not a good time to become involved in an accident with a Mexican national on a Mexican highway, in Mexico.

 

[dirtsurfer]

The scariest thing I have ever done in my life is drive from LaPaz to the border towing a trailer and driving at night a lot-not a very smart move in itself!
The Mexican truckers and bus drivers ride on top of and over the middle line in the highway forcing you to the side of the road and there are animals on the highway everywhere. We counted 7 crashed busses and 12 crashed semi's on the sides of the road as a testament to the highway safety. The number of crashed cars along the way was crazy. Be safe and slow down.

 

[JimMcG]

The scariest thing I have ever done in my life is drive from LaPaz to the border towing a trailer and driving at night a lot-not a very smart move in itself!
The Mexican truckers and bus drivers ride on top of and over the middle line in the highway forcing you to the side of the road and there are animals on the highway everywhere. We counted 7 crashed busses and 12 crashed semi's on the sides of the road as a testament to the highway safety. The number of crashed cars along the way was crazy. Be safe and slow down.

Yes indeed, my memory of our trip to Cabo and back was the oncoming semis being so close as to fold back my side mirror on my 4Runner every time they passed.
However the scariest trip was crossing the Sierra Madres at night several years ago when the road was declared as impassable. It was was the ultimate nightmare with fog, sheer drops, animals and huge boulders and fallen trees across the road. I remember promising myself that if we made it that I would never be this stupid again.

 

[tndr_cpl]

I certainly don't want to seem an apologist representing Mexico, but... I live in Anthem and my wife just had to get an alignment on her car due to pot holes on I-17 between Anthem and the Carefree Hwy. The US has a per capital GDP that is 5 times that of Mexico so my expectations (or at least hopes) are that our roads would be much better than what I find in most countries but I find it's not always true. We are fortunate in that we are able to travel to many countries around the world and I simply take things as they are and the only "vote" I get about conditions in other countries is whether I decide to go there or not.

I agree it sucks that the road to Caborca is in such bad shape, but I am 100% certain that my getting pissed about it won't do a thing to get it fixed. That seems to be true in Phoenix or Mexico. I simply follow the 'rule of thumb' pointed out above by Jim. When the roads are crappy I slow down

 

[jerry]

Being a S. arizona person. I can cross at Naco or Nogales and avoid this mess but the crony capitalism and flat out theft by the powers that be makes you a bit jaded...Go to the communities along the Rio Sonora and see how the cyanide holding pond failures effected people's lives...and don't eat the goat cheese...still iffy..

 

[Jungle Jim]

We ran the section from the Mayan turnoff out to the Santo Tomas turnoff on Sunday. Between the Mayan and checkpoint Charlie it is BAD but I've seen it worse. Two years ago I hit a chuckhole out there at around 65mph. and it tore a twelve inch hole in the sidewall of my right rear tire. The tire stayed on due to the beadlock wheels that I run on that Wrangler Rubicon. So that was the end of the day and a $350.00 Goodyear off-road tire. Coming back on Sunday afternoon saw a guy in a Surburban heading our way swerve off the road into the ditch and almost roll it. He had blown out both left side tires after hitting a gaper. I saw several pickups pass us at seventy or eighty just flying over the big ones like they were nothing. Most like me were slowly dodging them and even driving off the edge to start a new road alongside the old one. The most dangerous issue is the oncoming traffic that is more concerned with the chuck holes than who they might force off the road. I noticed that the pavement on the edges of the holes is only two inches thick with a loose sand base. As the holes develop the edges brake off in fist sized chucks then go airborne, watch out for those as well. Stopped at Sto Tomas to chat with Capt'n Scotty, saw his launcher and trailer on the beach so figgured he was out fishing. Then a left turn and a wild ride on down to El Desemboque. THAT will be another tale to tell!

JJ

 

[jerry]

they caught some nice fish on the 2nd...from his Santo Tomas fishing Facebook page

 

[Roberto]

They do not want to maintain it as it will be replaced by the apparently stalled coastal highway.

 

[SunDevil]

just drove it on Sunday and it was rough but all the pot holes had been filled

 

[Landshark]

Reminds me of my early days coming to RP & Playa Encanto back in the early 90's. The only warning of the road being completely gone and traffic being detoured through the desert was a smudge pot that you couldn't see until you were right on top of it. And sometimes the smudge pots had already burned out. Driving at night was an adventure...

 

[jerry]

This is just the kind of thread that keeps the Forum relevant...they always fix stuff before easter

 

[Amos]

Please, I drove it a month ago in a dinky Chevy Cruze with two tires that I plugged myself going 40 mph at the slowest and mainly between 55 and 65. I thought it was pretty fun and my daughter slept through two hours of it.

 

[MartyM]

What is the status (road conditions, traffic, stops, safety) for road travel route going east from Puerto Peñasco (MX 3) to Caborca then to Santa Ana at MX 15? See attached travel map outlining the route.

 

[audsley]

I strongly suggest Penasco to Caborca to Santa Ana. The road down the coast becomes unpaved a few miles south of Puerto Libertad and is slower going. I've never taken the highway from Penasco to Caborca and don't know about checkpoints on that route. Highway from Caborca to Santa Ana is good, same with Highway 15 to Hermosillo. Shouldn't have any hassles, but there will be tolls.

 

[richwi]

There has been a checkpoint on the Caborca hwy coming into Penasco right at Freemont for awhile now. The couple times we have gone past they have just waved us through.

 

[Old55]

Right now Caborca is dangerous pretty much anytime of day….and you head east toward Santa Ana too.