Geography
The graph on the right shows the height of the road as it runs through Mendoza Province.
On the west of the province, the route runs through the main and front ranges, and passes only 18 km south of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas. You can see the mountain from a viewpoint at 1222 km.
From the east of Uspallata to the city of Mendoza, the route runs through the foothills.
Until the construction of the Túnel del Cristo Redentor in 1980, the route finished at 3,832 msnm at Paso Internacional de la Cumbre, where it ended at the statue of Christ the Redeemer of the Andes.
Due to the extreme height, the mountain pass is cut off for several days during the winter months because of snowdrifts on the road. To relieve the situation, they started to pave National Route 145 in the southwest of Mendoza Province, which joins the neighbouring republic to the Pehuenche passage lower down so it doesn't have the same problem.
The graph on the left shows the height of the road between the junction with National Route 40 on the outskirts of Mendoza city and Avenida General Paz.
From the eastern part of Mendoza province, the route runs through the Great Plain of Travesia. The plain slopes down towards the Desaguadero River, which is the provincial border with San Luis. In that province there are some higher sections near the Sierras pampeanas. This part doesn't cause any traffic problems because this part of Route 7 is an autopista.
After running through some frequently flooded areas in Córdoba and Santa Fe provinces (mainly the latter), it runs past several lakes in Santa Fe province and the east of Buenos Aires province. Then it continues through the Ondulada pampas until it reaches the republic's capital.
Read more about this topic: National Route 7 (Argentina)
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