TRANSPORTATION
Roads:
Traffic drives on the right. There is a reasonable network of roads, including the Sanchez Highway running westwards from Santo Domingo to Elias Pina on the Haitian frontier; the Mella Highway extending eastwards from Santo Domingo to Higuey in the southeast and the Duarte Highway running north and west from Santo Domingo to Santiago and to Monte Cristi on the northwest coast.
Not all roads in the Dominican Republic are all-weather and 4-wheel drive vehicles are recommended for wet weather. Checkpoints near military installations are ubiquitous; though no serious difficulties have been reported (those near the Haitian border are most likely to be sensitive). Keep doors and windows locked at all times. Driving at night is not recommended because of poor lighting and signage.
Railroads:
The country's 325-kilometer railroad system was one of the longest in the Caribbean. The CEA owned 60 percent of the railroad, which primarily served the sugar industry. Over half of all sugarcane traveled from the fields to the mills by rail. Central Romana also operated a railroad for its private sugar interests.
The other owners of railroads included the state operated salt mining and bauxite companies, Dominican Agrarian Institute (Instituto Agrario Dominican--IAD) and Falconbridge. Falconbridge also operated nearly all of the country's pipelines, seventy-four kilometers of which supplied oil to the Canadian firm's ferronickel smelting plant in Bonao.
Aviation:
Four international airports accommodated the nation's growing numbers of travelers. The two major airports were Las Americas, near Santo Domingo, and the newer La Uni?n, near Puerto Plata, both of which handled wide-bodied jets. Las Americas traditionally received more than two-thirds of all air passengers and most air cargo, but La Uni?n's share of air passengers grew steadily after its completion in the 1970s as a result of the burgeoning tourist industry on the north coast.
A French construction company renovated the Las Americas airport in 1989, so that it could more effectively manage the growing influx of passengers. The smaller international airports at La Romana and Santiago accommodated mainly chartered flights. Fourteen carriers scheduled regular flights within the Dominican Republic in 1989. Four of these carriers also offered direct daily flights to the United States.