Road and Highway System
Western Bahia is served by three federal highways, BR 020 connecting Barreiras to Brasilia, a distance of 620 km, BR 242 connecting Barreiras to Salvador, Bahia on the Atlantic coast 850 km to the east; and BR 135 connecting to the state of Piauí, about 200 km to the north of Barreiras. Federal highways BR 2- and BR 242 are paved and usually in good condition. The federal highway from Barreiras to Piauí (BR 135) leaves much to be desired.
State and local roads connect to the federal highways. The paved anel de soja--the soybean ring road, diverts north from BR 020 between Barreiras and Luis Eduardo Magalhães (formerly Mimoso do Oeste), then swings to the northwest, southwest and then south before reconnecting to BR 020 west of Luis Eduardo Magalhães. Another state road, BA 462, links Barreiras southwest to BR 020. These are paved farm-to-market roads in the area and are generally in good condition.
Unpaved roads (not shown on map) connect farms to state and federal highways. The condition of these roads varies from acceptable to pretty bad. In general, they are passable throughout the year, but four-wheel drive vehicles are often required during the rainy season. Poor roads are not a major hindrance to dryland farming; most of the inputs and outputs move at the seasonal break when roads are usually in fairly good condition.
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