Those renting a car in Panama will most likely at some
point end up on the Pan American Highway, which is a valuable
mainland thoroughfare. In fact, even if you don’t
rent a car in Panama, you’ll probably be treated
to a trip along the famed roadway, which stretches from
Alaska
on down to the lower end of South America. Curiously
enough, the Pan American Highway isn’t exactly one
big, complete highway. It’s actually more
of a highway system, with various connecting roads that
make up much of its links. Where the Pan American
Superhighway enters Panama from Costa
Rica, it extends in a convincing route until you reach
the infamous Darien Gap
Province. In this highly undeveloped region, the
Pan American Highway basically terminates in the Panamanian
town of Yaviza, only to truly re-establish itself in the
Colombian town of Lomas Aisiadas. The Darien Gap
is thus known as the most notable “Missing Link”
in the Pan American Superhighway chain.
The Panamerican Highway was first conceived in the late
1800's, right around the time the French were undertaking
their attempt at the Panama
Canal. Brought into consideration during the
First Pan American Conference, the proposal for a road
route covering the length of the Americas would eventually
lead nowhere. One can imagine the considerable size
of such a project, and it would undoubtedly require a
devoted participation from each affected country.
It wasn’t until 1923 that a real proposal for the
Panamerican Highway took hold, and two years later, the
first conference for its purpose was held in Buenos
Aires, Argentina. Mexico
beat all other countries in the race to complete its stretch
of road, doing so in 1950. Panama is currently being
credited for renovating much of its stretch of the Panamerican
Highway, and visitors will find the majority of it to
be two lanes in each direction. Entering from Costa
Rica to the west, the first major stop on the Pan American
Highway in Panama is the city of David. The capital
of the Chiriqui Province, David
is a major Panamanian travel hub, partly because of its
location on the featured roadway. Just east of David,
the Pan American Highway connects with the main road leading
north to the Bocas del Toro
Province. Should you continue east from here, it’s
only about 275 miles to Panama City.
Before you get to Panama City,
you’ll have the chance to cross over the Panama
Canal on the Centennial Bridge. The Bridge of the
Americas was the original link for this part of the Pan
American Superhighway, and it crosses the Pacific stretch
leading into the canal at the town of Balboa. Once
the Panama Canal was built in 1914, Panama City would
more or less end up a bit disconnected from the rest of
the republic. It would take a bit of time for the
number of cars in Panama to increase, but once they became
more abundant, and a new road was built in Panama that
lead to the Chiriqui Province, it was becoming increasingly
important to build a bridge to better connect Panama City
to the increasing network of roads. The Bridge of
the Americas would provide a very important link for the
Pan American Superhighway when it was completed in 1962.
It cost some $20,000,000 to build, and is today a major
Panama attraction. In 2004, however, the Bridge
of the Americas would be replaced by the Centennial Bridge
as the link for the Pan American Highway, thus alleviating
the overcrowding that was occurring on the former.
Many Panama tours include
a crossing of the Bridge of the Americas, which provides
insight into the history of the Pan American Highway in
Panama. The new Centennial Bridge is quite an architectural
feat, and the two enjoy a considerable amount of notoriety
around the world.
