National Route 7 (Argentina) - Road Conditions

Road Conditions

Route 7 is a highway or expressway over the following sections:

• km 12 to 22: Avenida General Paz to Camino de Cintura (a section of Access West), opened 1 September 1998.
• km 22 to 38: Camino de Cintura to Moreno (a section of Access West), opened in 1984.
• km 38 to 60: Moreno to the junction with Provincial Route 6, opened in 1970.
• km 60 to 75: Provincial Route 6 to Luján (a section of Access West).
• km 258 to 261: Junín city crossroads.
• km 654 to 865: The whole of San Luis Province, opened 16 April 2003.
• km 868 to 888: From Desaguadero to the tollbooth, opened 16 December 2011.
• km 906 to 954: From La Paz to Las Catitas, opened to the public on 3 March 2011.
• km 954 to 965: From Las Catitas to Santa Rosa (opened 4 March 2010).
• km 965 to 999: From Santa Rosa to San Martín (opened 5 October 2007).
• km 999 to 1015: From San Martín to Palmira (a section of Access East), opened in 1979.
• km 1015 to 1041: From Palmira to Mendoza (a section of Access East), opened in 1977.
• km 1041 to 1064: From Mendoza to Agrelo (superimposed over National Route 40).

The project of converting the road into a highway will complete with the section from Luján (km 75) to Junín (km 263). Construction is hoped to finish on this section in the next few years.

In various sections between Agrelo and Potrerillos, and between Uspallata and Las Cuevas, only the uphill lane has two carriageways. This makes it easier for motorists to overtake trucks driving up the mountains.

Ice and snow tend to accumulate on the roads during the winter, so tyre chains are given out. At these times the maximum speed is 40 km/h (25 mph). The chains must be removed when the car is driving on asphalt, because this ruins the chains and risks puncturing the tyres. Before setting off on the Andes crossing, road users are advised to check up on the state of the road. The National Gendarmarie run an AM and FM radio station that gives information on road conditions, plays music and reads the day's news headlines.

There are 14 tunnels between Luján de Cuyo and Las Cuevas. The maximum speed here is 40 km/h (25 mph) because there are hidden bends coming out of many of these tunnels.

The table on the right shows the tunnels in 2004. Work started on tunnels 2 and 8 on 1 October 2003 and finished on 31 July 2005. Between them they cover 500 m.

Tunnel 1 is on the outskirts of Cacheuta, on Provincial Route 82 (an old stretch of National Route 7) and it is closed. The route now passes outside the mountain next to Mendoza River.

There are dangerous bends with their own names up in the high mountain stretches of road. East of Uspallata you can find Curva de Guido and Curva de los Chilenos, while to the west there are some called Curva de la Mirian, the Curva del Tiempo, the Curva del Yeso and the Curva de la Soberanía Nacional.