Currently, the city has undertaken an ambitious public works program that is designed to transform the chaotic road system into an organized network of upgraded thoroughfares and efficient mass transit. The 20-year plan, an extension of efforts begun in the mid-1990s, has begun to take physical form with the Miguel Grau Freeway in the heart of central Lima.
For centuries, Lima was the center of Spain's colonies in the new world. This city on the far western edge of South America was the home of the Spanish viceroy who oversaw all of the empire's interests on the continent. Lima's status made it a center of commerce and trade and gained it the moniker of "the city of kings."