Tourists Experiencing Gridlock Traffic Regularly On Los Cabos’ Main Highway

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Last Updated 11 months ago

When travelers choose Los Cabos, they are most likely ready to kick back and relax after splurging on a luxury stay.

After a flight to paradise, you just want to get your vacation started right away. For Los Cabos tourists, the airport is set quite a ways outside the city away from the pristine coastline.

So, it’s already a trek to get to your resort. More recently, tourists are experiencing even more frustration as the main highway has been seeing more heavy traffic.

Locals are up in arms too knowing the most commonly used highway is past its breaking point. Cabo is one of the ritziest destinations in close proximity to the U.S., but it comes with its downsides.

Travelers should be prepared for potentially long wait times to get where they need to be as tourists are experiencing gridlock traffic regularly on the Transpeninsular Highway.

The Backroads Are For Country Songs

The Transpeninsular highway connects from the entry point to Baja all the way to the southernmost tip – Los Cabos.

Driving from Tijuana would be quite a journey, so most travelers wisely opt to fly in. After arriving at the Los Cabos International Airport, vacationers don’t have much of a choice but to take to the Transpeninsular Highway, unless you’re going off the beaten path.

The most common resort areas are south of the airport and easiest to reach by this roadway. In other words, the backroads just aren’t an option.

Cabo’s rugged, mountainous landscape offers few ways to skirt by traffic even if heading to one of the region’s charming small towns or the beautiful coastal city of La Paz.

You will have to leave the backroads to country songs and face the music – traffic right now is nearly unavoidable.

The toll road may be an option depending on where you’re going, but Highway 1 is most commonly used for a reason.

Not all traffic will become a parking lot, but tourists should expect delays in reaching their destination at the very least.

Is Traffic Congestion Being Addressed?

For an extremely touristy destination like Los Cabos, keeping visitors happy is a top goal to keep them coming back.

Officials in Los Cabos realize traffic is an issue which can cause a headache for tourists. Nobody knows exactly what is going on behind the curtain to solve this problem, but there has been some discussion of making changes to trucking and public transit schedules, along with changes to school start times.

The idea is to control traffic flow better with these improvements, but nothing is official as of yet. The main problem, of course, is the infrastructure has exceeded max capacity.

“It is a problem that we have at the destination level, this is a result of this beautiful tourist dynamic that Los Cabos has and its growth has definitely surpassed us in the road infrastructure and it is an issue that affects both locals and tourists.

“Both society and the tourists who visit Los Cabos are already realizing how forced, how slow and complicated this issue is becoming.”

– Juan Carlos del Río, Spokesperson for the Mexican Association of Tourist Agencies (Amatur)

The Number One Concern For Tourists

Earlier this year, tourists were surveyed regarding their overall experience vacationing in Los Cabos. To get a better understanding of what tourists do and do not like, Cabo vacationers provided their feedback.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of turn-offs was the lack of mobility in and around Los Cabos. In fact, traffic congestion was the number one concern.

Not all tourists want to kick back and stay at the resort 24/7; some want to go out and see all the sights, whether it’s whale watching tours or an awesome waterfall hike.

Obviously, traffic can put an even bigger damper on tourists’ plans even after getting to the resort if traffic is occurring sporadically throughout the day.

It remains to be seen which strategies will be implemented, but the new speed limit changes may tap the brakes on your itinerary even more.