National Route 126 (Costa Rica)

National Secondary Route 126, or just Route 126 (Spanish: Ruta Nacional Secundaria 126, or Ruta 126) is a National Road Route of Costa Rica, located in the Alajuela, Heredia provinces.[1] It connects Route 3 and Route 4.

National Secondary Route 126
Ruta Nacional Secundaria 126
La Paz waterfall is an scenic spot along Route 126.
Route information
Maintained by the MOPT
Length	73.51 km (45.67 mi)
Major junctions
South end	Route 3
	Route 119 Route 128 Route 114 Route 127 Route 125 Route 120 Route 140
North end	Route 4
Location
Provinces	Alajuela, Heredia
Highway system
National Road Network of Costa Rica ← Route 125 Route 127 →

Description

Starting at the downtown area of Heredia canton, at Route 3, this road goes through Heredia, Barva, Carrizal, and Varablanca slightly following the province limit between Heredia and Alajuela, until arriving to Route 4 at Bajos de Chilamate in Sarapiquí.

It allows access to the Poás Volcano National Park when driving from Heredia, by turning at Route 120.

In the southern area of the route, near Barva canton, there are many coffee plantations, and further north in Varablanca there are strawberry orchards.

Making use of the eastern lowlands segment of Route 32 and Route 4, this route connects the Greater Metropolitan Area to the Caribbean districts, which is a recommended alternate route in case of emergency when there are landslides in the Braulio Carrillo national park section of Route 32.[2]

In Alajuela province the route covers Alajuela canton (Carrizal, San Isidro, Sarapiquí districts).

In Heredia province the route covers Heredia canton (Heredia, Mercedes, Varablanca districts), Barva canton (Barva, San Pedro, San Pablo districts), Santa Bárbara canton (Jesús, Santo Domingo, Purabá districts), Sarapiquí canton (La Virgen district).

Locations

Administrative regions covered by this route and their junctions at the district level.

Province	Canton	District	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Alajuela	Alajuela	Carrizal			Route 125
		San Isidro
		Sarapiquí			Route 140
Heredia	Heredia	Heredia			Route 3
		Mercedes
		Varablanca			Route 120
	Barva	Barva			Route 119 Route 128
		San Pedro
		San Pablo			Route 114
	Santa Bárbara	Jesús			Route 114
		Santo Domingo
		Purabá			Route 127
	Sarapiquí	La Virgen			Route 4

History

An historic route in the country, an approximate route was used to export goods to Europe by the Spanish colonials.[3]

Was partially destroyed by the 2009 Cinchona earthquake, reconstruction took five years and was concluded on 2014.[4]

Among the major construction works in the route, the bridge over Quebrada Seca (Seca creek) was rebuilt from one to four lanes and new sidewalks, finishing in January 2014.[5]

La Paz waterfall bridges

The scenic spot to overlook La Paz waterfall, on the La Paz Grande river, is served by a bridge that has been destroyed two times, in 2003 the 65 years old original wood bridge fell due to heavy machinery transportation, a Bailey bridge was installed, which due to a torrential storm, was destroyed by the river in 2013. A new Bailey bridge was again installed, a meter higher than before, opened on September 2013.[6][7]

Old wood bridge near La Paz waterfall, circa 1990

References

1. "GeoPortal". Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transporte de Costa Rica. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
2. Ugarte, Joselyne (15 July 2018). "Ruta 32 permanecerá cerrada 2 o 3 días más". Retrieved 16 September 2019.
3. "Una ruta vital para Cinchona". 23 November 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
4. Fernández, Tatiana (22 March 2014). "Carretera revive desarrollo económico en Cinchona". Retrieved 16 September 2019.
5. Recio, Patricia (17 January 2014). "Finaliza construcción de puente en Barva de Heredia". Retrieved 16 September 2019.
6. INFORME DE EVALUACIÓN LM-PI-UGERVN-11-2013 RUTA NACIONAL N°126 PUENTE CATARATA LA PAZ (PDF)
7. Cascante, Sharon (28 September 2013). "Abrirían puente sobre Catarata de la Paz". Retrieved 16 September 2019.