There is no highway that runs from North America through Central America and into South America.
Because technically, there is a 54 mile (87-km) long gap in the Pan-American Highway, a system of roads connecting countries in North and South America.
This missing section prevents traffic from passing through the isthmus of Panama into the South American country of Colombia.
Back in the 1960s, work began to complete the highway through the Panamanian province of Darien.
But construction was stopped about halfway through because people became concerned that opening the border between Panama and Colombia might expose countries in Central and North America to foot-and-mouth disease, a serious problem in South America’s cattle industry at the time.
If the road is ever completed, it will be possible to drive the 16,000 miles (25,760 km) from Alaska to the bottom of Chile.
Plans to complete the road are once again being discussed, but today many people are opposed to the project because the road would cut through hundreds of acres of biologically diverse rain forest in Panama and Colombia.
