Baja Report: Road Conditions, Malicious Teenagers & Radar Enforcement
I know this is a popular time of year to head to Baja. We just got back, so I thought I'd provide some info. for anyone heading through the San Felipe area.
Road Conditions:
The road conditions appear to be the best they have been in quite a while. I can speak personally for the road from San Felipe south to around KM 42, as we just returned from the area on 01/07/20. Except for a short section from just south of town to the airport road turn-off, it's as nice as we've ever seen it, with lots of new pavement.
One caution though; the road crews are in the process of painting the yellow dividing line on the new pavement. This process involves two guys holding a 200’-300’ long rope stretched out on the ground in the middle of the road while a third guy walks the line and, using a paintbrush attached to a stick, paints a yellow dot every couple of feet so the truck can come along later and put down the stripe. We came around a corner and there they were in the middle of the road with no signs, cones, or any type of warning!!! They were working in the area around KM 12, south of town, when we came home on Tuesday.
We talked to our neighbor’s daughter on 01/02/20 and she had just come up from Cabo. She said the roads were in great condition. We also talked to some folks who said the road from San Felipe south to Gonzaga Bay is also in good condition, with only a couple of very short detours around the spots where they are still working on the culverts under the road. They have not finished paving the final section of Hwy 5 where it meets up with Hwy 1 but they should be close.
Another indicator that Hwy 5 is in decent shape is the number of 18 wheelers using it. You really gotta watch it when your passing one coming the other direction, especially on corners, as the road can get a bit narrow. We saw a motorhome lose their driver’s side mirror due to this.
Malicious Teenagers:
A very similar incident happened to two different people, two days apart, along Hwy 5, just south of San Felipe. In both incidents, a small white truck with several teenaged looking occupants threw objects at oncoming vehicles, breaking their windshields. This happened on 01/02/20 & 01/04/20.
In both cases, the white truck appeared to be waiting along the side of the road for a vehicle to be driving towards them on the Hwy. They would pull out onto the road and start driving towards the vehicle coming at them once they came into view. When they got very close, two individuals stood up from the back of the white truck and threw objects at the windshield of the oncoming vehicle. The white truck sped off towards town immediately after the incidents.
My gut feeling is they were not locals, but teenagers or young adults in town for the holidays. However, I would certainly be very cautious if I saw a small white truck parked along the side of the road, just in case…
Radar Enforcement:
The Federal Police (in the dark blue police car with the white stripe on the hood) seem to be stepping up their radar enforcement efforts.
We travel to the San Felipe area 5-6 times a year and have noticed them out on the Hwy a bit more frequently lately. Our neighbors went home on 01/02/20 and said they were out in the area just south of the military check point. We came home on 01/07/20 around 9:00 am and they were out just north of the gold mine operation. There was a second one set up around KM 54, near the turn off to Rancho Mil.
Safe Travels...
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