Who may not use the toll motorway

It is the part of Chapter XXII of Act 22-2000 saying who and what may circulate on a toll motorway in Puerto Rico, in which direction, in which lane and on what tyres, and what happens if you do not comply.

It applies to Puerto Rico’s toll motorways. The central-island exception covers toll-motorway service and maintenance vehicles, the Police, the Municipal Police and motorway personnel on official duty. Motorcycles may travel only where specially authorised by the Secretary. Article 22.07 makes clear that every provision of the Act not in conflict with this chapter’s special ones also applies to the toll motorways.

• For trucks and heavy vehicles: travelling only in the lanes designated for heavy traffic, except when overtaking or attempting to overtake another motor vehicle (Article 22.04).Verified against the official source
• Tyres with more than 2/32 of an inch of depth in the tread’s main grooves, as the agency’s regulation provides. The Act prohibits travelling with less, and also with metal, solid-rubber or deflated tyres (Article 22.05(i)).Verified against the official source
• Cargo duly secured or protected: subsection (f) prohibits travel by vehicles transporting animals, provisions or other cargo that is not.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: All traffic is one-way, shoulder included

   Article 22.01 opens the chapter and is broader than it looks: “All traffic on the grounds of the toll motorways, including the roadway, entry and exit ramps and shoulders, shall be unidirectional.” And it goes on: no person may drive or operate a motor vehicle “or otherwise cause it to move other than forward, parallel to and to the right of the central island”. Ramps and shoulders are inside the rule, not outside it.

2. 2

   Step 2: The central island belongs to nobody else

   Article 22.03 is a single sentence with a short list of exceptions. “With the exception of toll-motorway service and maintenance vehicles, the Police, the Municipal Police and toll-motorway personnel on official duty, no vehicle may drive on or park on the central island of the toll motorways.” Neither drive nor park: both.

3. 3

   Step 3: Trucks, in their lane

   Article 22.04 requires: “Trucks and heavy motor vehicles travelling the toll motorways shall be obliged to use only the lanes designated for heavy traffic, except when overtaking or attempting to overtake another motor vehicle.” The only way out of the designated lane is the overtaking manoeuvre, and the Act includes the attempt.

4. 4

   Step 4: The first six prohibitions in 22.05

   Article 22.05 opens with “The following may not travel the toll motorways” and lists them. (a) Pedestrians, except in service, parking or recreation areas specially designated by the Authority for those purposes. (b) Bicycles. (c) Motorcycles, “except where specially authorised by the Secretary”. (d) Animal-drawn vehicles. (e) Riders on horses or beasts. (f) Vehicles transporting animals, provisions or other cargo not duly secured or protected.

5. 5

   Step 5: And the other six, tyres included

   (g) Agricultural or industrial equipment, or other similar equipment not designed for road transportation, except equipment used in construction, conservation, repair or service works on the motorways themselves. (h) Livestock. (i) Vehicles with metal tyres, solid-rubber tyres, deflated tyres, “tyres worn to less than 2/32" in the tread’s main grooves, as the agency’s regulation provides”, and vehicles with tractor treads, except where carried on a flat-bed trailer or semi-trailer. (j) Vehicles not meeting the vehicle and cargo dimension and weight requirements the Secretary determines and regulates. (k) Any other vehicle which, in the judgement of the authorised official in charge of the toll station, poses a risk to persons’ or property’s safety and makes the road unsafe — and, in the same line, “no person may use the toll motorways as a landing or take-off strip for aeroplanes or helicopters”. (l) Vehicles towed, hauled or otherwise moved along the motorways by another vehicle not duly authorised by this Act or by the Commission to do that kind of work.

6. 6

   Step 6: The speed, by sign

   Article 22.06 is one line: “The Secretary shall place on the toll motorways signs indicating the maximum speed permitted by this Act.” The specific figure is not in the chapter; it is on the signs, and the general limits are in Chapter V, which we cover in the speed-limits guide.

7. 7

   Step 7: The rest of the Act applies here too

   Article 22.07 heads off the misunderstanding that the motorway is a world apart: “All provisions of this Act not in conflict with the special provisions of this Chapter shall apply to the toll motorways.” The rules on overtaking, lanes, seat belts and driving under the influence are still there; what changes is only what this chapter says differently.

8. 8

   Step 8: A hundred dollars, except speed

   Article 22.08 closes: “Save where this Chapter establishes a different fine amount, breaches of the provisions of this Chapter and of the motorway regulations issued by the Secretary shall be considered administrative faults and shall carry a fine of one hundred (100) dollars. Speed-related breaches shall carry a penalty as established in Chapter Five (5) of this Act.” The different amount the chapter does set is Article 22.02’s: a hundred dollars for using the AutoExpreso lane without a tag, and fifteen plus the toll for the rest.

There is no procedure: these are circulation rules on the toll motorways. Enforcement is by the Police of Puerto Rico and the Municipal Police, and the authorised official in charge of the toll station also has the subsection (k) power to judge whether a vehicle poses a risk. The service, parking and recreation areas where pedestrians may be are designated by the Authority. The special authorisation for motorcycles is granted by the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works.

• Believing the one-way prohibition covers only the roadway: Article 22.01 expressly includes entry and exit ramps and shoulders.
• Reversing on a ramp after missing the exit: you may only move forward, parallel to and to the right of the central island.
• Crossing or parking on the central island: Article 22.03 prohibits it except for maintenance, the Police, the Municipal Police and motorway personnel on official duty.
• Pulling a truck out of the heavy-traffic lane for convenience: Article 22.04’s only exception is overtaking or attempting to.
• Riding onto the toll motorway on a motorcycle assuming it is allowed: the Act prohibits it unless specially authorised by the Secretary.
• Cycling on the motorway: subsection (b) prohibits it without exception.
• Walking on the motorway outside a service, parking or recreation area designated by the Authority.
• Carrying cargo, provisions or animals unsecured: subsection (f) prohibits travelling that way.
• Running on tyres below 2/32 of an inch in the main grooves: besides being dangerous, subsection (i) expressly prohibits it on the motorway.
• Towing a vehicle along the motorway with a crane or vehicle not authorised by the Act or by the Commission for that work.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas (DTOP)

  DTOP

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov