page_title: San Diego–Tijuana
section_title: Major highways
hierarchical_section_title: San Diego–Tijuana / Transportation / Major highways
caption_attribution_description: Español: Autopista que conecta Tijuana con Ensenada, conocida también como "La Escénica"
context_page_description: San Diego–Tijuana is an international transborder agglomeration, straddling the border of the adjacent North American coastal cities of San Diego, California, United States and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The 2012 population of the region was 4,922,723, making it the largest bi-national conurbation shared between the United States and Mexico, the third-largest shared between the US and another country, and the fourth-largest in the world. In its entirety, the region consists of San Diego County in the United States and the municipalities of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, and Tecate in Mexico. It is the third most populous region in the California–Baja California region, smaller only than the metropolitan areas of Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
  The largest centers of the urban area maintain global city status and as a whole the metropolitan region is host to 13 consulates from Asian, European, North American, Oceanian, and South American nations. Over fifty million people cross the border each year between Tijuana and San Diego, giving the region the busiest land-border crossing in the world.
context_section_description: San Diego–Tijuana is at the junction of major interstates, state routes and federal highways. The region is at the terminus of ten major Interstates and Federal Highways. Radiating to the east and south are connections to the Imperial Valley, Mexicali Valley, and the Arizona Sun Corridor via Interstate 8, the Inland Empire, the Las Vegas Strip and metropolitan area and Salt Lake City via Interstate 15; and to the Greater Ensenada area via Federal Highway 1D. To the north and west the area is connected to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Northern California, and Cascadia via Interstate 5. Interstate 5 and Federal Highway 1 are critical highways for commercial and international trade due to their junction at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, linking major industrial regions along the British Columbia Coast, West Coast of the United States, and the Gold Coast of Baja California at the busiest port of entry in the world. The metropolitan area is linked by Federal Highway 2 and State Route 111 to Gulf of Mexico cities.
  Within the metropolitan region, there are many transportation routes via highway. These included Interstate 805, connecting Tijuana to Del Mar. Many highways have a terminus in South Bay and run north and west towards other agglomerations such as the Inland Empire and Los Angeles metropolitan area. State Routes that link to these urban areas include State Route 79 and State Route 78. San Diego–Tijuana is linked to Ensenada by various ways as well; including Federal Highway 3, Federal Highway 1 and Federal Highway 1D, running from the border cities of Tijuana and Tecate to the Cinderella of the Pacific.
  In addition to the extensive highway system, the cities and regions within San Diego–Tijuana are interconnected by many state routes as well. State Route 52 connects communities in northern San Diego, State Route 905 connects the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with South Bay cities, State Route 125 connects South Bay with East County, State Route 94 connects South Bay with the Mountain Empire, and State Route 78 connects North County Coastal with North County Inland, as well as to the mountain communities of the San Diego County Peninsular Ranges.
  San Diego has a major network of roads, predominantly free Highways with several toll roads, and Interstates. Interstate 5 runs south from the Canadian-border city of Vancouver and terminates at the San Ysidro International border where it becomes Federal Highway 1. Another major freeway is Interstate 8 that runs west from the Arizona Sun Corridor at Casa Grande, Arizona and terminates at Ocean Beach in San Diego. The roadway system in Tijuana is very low end compared to the quality of streets in the United States. The majority of the roads are in desperate need of repair with many newly constructed off ramps being set up in an impractical method often requiring sharp and hard turns. When it comes to long distance travel through Baja California, many people use the toll roads that are well maintained and are at a standard comparable to that of U.S. roads.
caption: Highway that connects Tijuana and Ensenada, locally known as "La Escénica"
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