Roads in the Dominican Republic are like a holiday!
«What is the point in buying a car to drive on the asphalt? Real fun begins where paved roads end» © Strugatsky brothers
Or in a different way — make the trip is exciting and at the same time comfortable, on perfect asphalt? Oh yeah! This is quite real if you are traveling in the Dominican Republic, and the Dominican roads deserve to be told about them!
Most of the major cities of the Dominican Republic are connected by an extensive system of highways — carreteras. There are thirteen main highways and four of them connect the coastal areas. Five national main highways DR-1, DR-2, DR-3, DR-4, DR-5, connecting major cities of the country and tourist centers, are in very good condition.
Although this can be said about almost all Dominican roads - new highways are being built here all the time and old ones are being qualitatively repaired. Perhaps there are 2 factors that directly contribute to maintaining the excellent condition of the highways:
The second road service operating in the Dominican Republic is AMET (Autoridad Metropolitana de Transporte), which serves as the traffic police. AMET employees, who are easily recognizable by their light green uniform, can stop the driver to check documents, to impose a fine (most often for talking on the phone while driving, speeding or not wearing a seat belt).
As mentioned above, almost all highways in the Dominican Republic are toll. The fee is paid at special guarded payment points called «peaje. Payment is made in local currency exclusively in cash, Dominican peso, therefore it is imperative to exchange money in advance, as dollars on checkpoints are not accepted. The fee is 25-300 pesos. For example to get to Santo Domingo, you need to pass 4 checkpoints and pay 260 Dominican pesos (about $ 4.5) — this is the price of a one-way trip.
Most of the major cities of the Dominican Republic are connected by an extensive system of highways — carreteras. There are thirteen main highways and four of them connect the coastal areas. Five national main highways DR-1, DR-2, DR-3, DR-4, DR-5, connecting major cities of the country and tourist centers, are in very good condition.
Although this can be said about almost all Dominican roads - new highways are being built here all the time and old ones are being qualitatively repaired. Perhaps there are 2 factors that directly contribute to maintaining the excellent condition of the highways:
- most of the main highways of the country are toll, and the money from the toll goes just for the construction and repair of roads;
- there are no severe weather conditions that affect the quality of the road surface.
The second road service operating in the Dominican Republic is AMET (Autoridad Metropolitana de Transporte), which serves as the traffic police. AMET employees, who are easily recognizable by their light green uniform, can stop the driver to check documents, to impose a fine (most often for talking on the phone while driving, speeding or not wearing a seat belt).
As mentioned above, almost all highways in the Dominican Republic are toll. The fee is paid at special guarded payment points called «peaje. Payment is made in local currency exclusively in cash, Dominican peso, therefore it is imperative to exchange money in advance, as dollars on checkpoints are not accepted. The fee is 25-300 pesos. For example to get to Santo Domingo, you need to pass 4 checkpoints and pay 260 Dominican pesos (about $ 4.5) — this is the price of a one-way trip.
One of the many payment points on the road in the Dominican Republic
Well, let's talk a little about interesting features on the Dominican roads. There are a lot of .... no, a lot of speed bumps! Unlike conventional traffic lights. At the same time, their sizes are not regulated in any way, therefore speed bumps can be of any height, with sharp edges, of any width and for the most part they are not highlighted in any way, so you should be careful, especially in the dark time. On the local road you can also find flat round pits with a diameter of about half a meter and a depth of 10-15 cm. Similar to concave speed bumps. Again, they are not indicated in any way, therefore, in this case, be careful develop your driving skills :)
Anyway, traveling on the Dominican roads is pleasant and exciting, especially with a car rented in Montecardo :)
Anyway, traveling on the Dominican roads is pleasant and exciting, especially with a car rented in Montecardo :)
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