Skip to main content

Federal Highway GUA 10D the Southern Super Bypass of Guadalajara

Federal Highway GUA 10D is tolled Autopista located near the Guadalajara metropolitan area in the Mexican state of Jalisco.  Federal Highway GUA 10D is 111 kilometers in length spanning from Federal Highway 80D/90D near Zapotlanejo west to Federal Highway 15D at El Arenal.  Federal Highway GUA 10D does not follow the established numbering conventions of the Federal Highway System and is one of the newer facilities in Mexico as it was fully dedicated during January 2018.  Federal Highway GUA 10D is known as "Macrolibramiento Sur de Guadalajara" which translates into English as "Southern Super Bypass of Guadalajara.  


Part 1; the history of Federal Highway GUA 10D

The purpose of Federal Highway GUA 10D is to permit freight traffic to bypass the city of Guadalajara as a component of the Nogales highway corridor.  As presently configured Federal Highway GUA 10D functions as a true bypass Guadalajara metro area and has only seven junctions.  Federal Highway GUA 10D only serves approximately 6,000 vehicles a day which is largely comprised of freight vehicles.  

The first 25-kilometer segment of Federal Highway GUA 10D was announced as having opened in a Secretariat of Communications and Transportation press release dated August 1, 2016.  The August 1, 2016 pressed release noted 1.5 billion Pesos went into funding construction of the initial segment of Federal Highway GUA 10D.  Federal Highway GUA 10D does not fall within the established numbering convention of the Federal Highway System aside from the "D" suffix denoting it as a tolled Autopista.  


The full 111-kilometers of Federal Highway GUA 10D were announced as having opened in a January 8, 2018, Secretariat of Communications and Transportation press release.  Upon fully opening during 2018 the toll rate for traveling the entire 111-kilometers of Federal Highway GUA 10D was 299 Pesos.  






Part 2; a drive on Federal Highway GUA 10D from Federal Highway 23 west to Federal Highway 15

From Federal Highway 23 south of Guadalajara and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport traffic can access Federal Highway GUA 10D.  Tepic is listed as the westbound control city transitioning from Federal Highway 23 southbound Federal Highway GUA 10D.  Traffic entering Federal Highway 10D is required to pass through a toll booth (Plaza de Cobro Chapala) with a current rate of 111 Pesos for automobiles.  



Despite having been completed in 2018 the difference between Autopista standards to that of American Interstates is almost instantly apparent.  Federal Highway GUA 10D essentially has no interior shoulder which is coupled with a narrow exterior shoulder. 


Federal Highway GUA 10D between Federal Highway 23 west to Federal Highway 15 is approximately 35-kilometers.  The segment bypasses far to the south of Guadalajara among the hills above Laguna de Cajititlán.













Part 3; a drive on Federal Highway GUA 10D from Federal Highway 23 to Federal Highway 80D

Federal Highway GUA 10D east from Federal Highway 23 descends to a crossing of Río Grande de Santiago.  Río Grande de Santiago begins at nearby Lake Chapala and follows a 433-kilometer course to the Pacific Ocean in Nayarit.  






Federal Highway GUA 10D rises east from Río Grande de Santiago to a toll facility known as "Caseta de Cobro La Laja Macrolibramiento" approaching Federal Highway 15D.  The current toll rate for automobiles at Caseta de Cobro La Laja Macrolibramiento is $88 Pesos. 












Eastbound Federal Highway GUA 10D crosses over an interchange with Federal Highway 15D.  Federal Highway 15D is aligned north of Lake Chapala whereas the toll-free mainline is aligned south of the basin.






Federal Highway GUA 10D eastbound terminates at Federal Highway 80D near Zapotlanejo.  Traffic cannot access Federal Highway 90D from the eastbound lanes but can exit onto Federal Highway 90 into Zapotlanejo.  









Version History

-  Originally published on 8/16/2022.
-  Updated on 3/4/2024. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bleriot Ferry - Alberta

  Alberta operates six ferries scattered throughout the province. Roughly twenty to twenty-five kilometers up the Red Deer River from the town of Drumheller is one of the most scenic ferry crossings in all of Wild Rose Country, the Bleriot Ferry. Using the North Dinosaur Trail (Alberta Highway 838, or AB 838), the Bleriot Ferry provides a scenic river cruise of sorts in the Canadian Badlands. The Bleriot Ferry started operating in 1913 as the Munson Ferry when a few bridges crossed the Red Deer River. The ferry was started by Andre Bleriot, the brother of famed early aviator Louis Bleriot, who became famous for being the first person to fly over the English Channel. At the time, the Alberta provincial government commissioned local residents to run the ferries. There were several ferries along the Red Deer River, and not only did they serve as vital transportation links, but they also served as local social hubs, since everyone had to take the ferries to go places. Over time, as the...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates Year in Review 2024

Welcome to another annual review of progress in constructing North Carolina's New and Future Interstate routes. While 2024 was not too exciting, with no new segments of major routes opening, there was 1 new interstate signing, another proposed new interstate route, and the near opening of a new segment for 2 routes. As tradition, I will start off with a review of what happened with I-73 and I-74 and then move on to the major news of the year about the other new and future routes. Work continued on the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass through the year. The last few months have been hoping for news of its opening before 2025, without luck. Signs of its near completion included the placement of new signs, many with interstate shields uncovered, along the Bypass and intersecting roadways. For example, these went up along US 74 East: Overhead signage at Business 74 exit which contains the future ramp to I-73 North/I-74 West. Signage was also updated heading west on US 74 approaching the unop...