This list of roads in Metro Manila summarizes the major thoroughfares and the numbering system currently being implemented in Metro Manila, Philippines.
This list only covers roads that are listed on the Department of Public Works and Highways's Infrastructure Atlas, as well as the previous circumferential and radial road system prior to 2014, and other notable roads in the metro. These road classifications are defined as follows:
National Primary Roads – Contiguous road sections extending that connect major cities. Primary roads make up the main trunk line or backbone of the national road system.[3]
National secondary roads – Roads that directly connect major ports, major ferry terminals, major airports, tourist service centers, and major government infrastructure to national primary roads.[3]
Both primary and secondary roads may be designated as bypass or diversion roads, which divert through traffic away from city or municipal business centers with affirmative feasibility studies, or roads that would connect or fill the gap between adjoining national roads.[3]
National tertiary roads – Other existing roads under the Department of Public Works and Highways that perform a local function.[3]
Any roads not classified as mational primary, national secondary, or national tertiary may be classified as follows:
Provincial roads – Roads that connect barangays through rural areas, major provincial government infrastructure, and/or cities and municipalities without traversing any national roads.[3]
Municipal and city roads – Roads within a poblacion or roads that connect provincial and national roads or provide inter-barangay connections to major municipal and city infrastructure without traversing provincial roads[3]
Barangay roads – Any other public roads within a barangay not covered by other classifications.[3]
Additional classifications are unclassified roads, road not yet given official classification, and private roads, roads that are maintained by private entities and may have access restrictions.[3]
Numbered routes
Circumferential and radial roads
The flagpole in front of the Jose Rizal Memorial Monument in Rizal Park is the kilometer zero of all the roads in Luzon and the rest of the Philippines.
The first road numbering system in the Philippines was adapted in 1940 by the administration of President Manuel Quezon, and was very much similar to U.S. Highway numbering system. Portions of it are 70 roads labeled Highway 1 to Highway 60. Some parts of the numbering system are Admiral Dewey Boulevard (Highway 1), Calle Manila (Highway 50) and 19 de Junio (Highway 54).
In 1945, the Metropolitan Thoroughfare Plan was submitted by Quezon City planners Louis Croft and Antonio Kayanan which proposed the laying of 10 radial roads, which purposes in conveying traffic in and out of the city of Manila to the surrounding cities and provinces, and the completion of six Circumferential Roads, that will act as beltways of the city, forming altogether a web-like arterial road system.[4][5] The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is the government agency that deals with these projects.
The road numbering for radial roads are R-1 up to R-10. The radial roads never intersect one another and they do not intersect circumferential roads twice; hence they continue straight routes leading out from the city of Manila to the provinces. The numbering is arranged in a counter-clockwise pattern, wherein the southernmost is R-1 and the northernmost is R-10. Circumferential roads are numbered C-1 to C-6, the innermost beltway is C-1, while the outermost is C-6.
Radial roads
There are ten radial roads that serves the purpose of conveying traffic in and out of the city of Manila to the surrounding cities of the metropolis and to the provinces, numbered in a counter clockwise pattern.[6] All radial roads starts at Kilometer Zero, demarked by a marble marcos across the Rizal Monument in Rizal Park along Roxas Boulevard.[7][8]
The road lies parallel to Radial Road 1, connecting the City of Manila to Cavite and Batangas. The road starts from the Lagusnilad Underpass in front of the National Museum in Ermita. The road, as Taft Avenue, will follow a straight route, and after crossing EDSA in Pasay, becomes Elpidio Quirino Avenue. E. Quirino Avenue serves as the main road in the suburb of Parañaque, until it becomes Diego Cera Avenue upon entering Las Piñas. The road then becomes the Aguinaldo Highway after crossing the Alabang–Zapote Road. Aguinaldo Highway serves as the main thoroughfare in the Province of Cavite, ending in the Tagaytay Rotunda, and becoming the Tagaytay–Talisay Road, which ends in front of the Taal Lake. The Manila LRT Line 1 follows the route of R-2 from Padre Burgos Avenue to EDSA.
The entire road is an expressway, except for its northern end starting from its junction with Sales Interchange. It is jointly operated by the Skyway Operation and Management Corporation (SomCo) and the Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corporation (CMMTC). Although the kilometer zero of the road is at Rizal Park, the road officially starts from the junction of South Luzon Expressway and Quirino Avenue. The road will follow a straight route starting from Paco, Manila, passing through the provinces of Laguna and Cavite, to Santo Tomas, Batangas, where it becomes the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road or the STAR Tollway. The STAR Tollway then connects Santo Tomas to the Batangas Port in Batangas City.
The road starts from the junction of Pedro Gil Street and Quirino Avenue in Paco, Manila, and it enters Makati after passing Tejeron Street before ending in an intersection with San Guillermo Avenue up to M. Almeda Street in Pasig. It will turn southwards reaching Pateros up to Alabang in Muntinlupa. The road currently spans 28.4 kilometers (17.6 mi).
Radial Road 5 starts from Sta. Mesa as V. Mapa Street, and then continues as P. Sanchez Street until Sevilla Bridge in which it becomes Shaw Boulevard and it continues as Pasig Boulevard. R-5 continues as Ortigas Avenue after C-5 Road until Kaytikling Rotunda in which it continues as Taytay Diversion road and the road will eventually become the Manila East Road, the main transportation corridor of the Province of Rizal, and terminates in Pagsanjan, Laguna.
Radial Road 6 starts from the junction of Mendiola Street, Recto Avenue, and Legarda Street. The road will serve as an important thoroughfare in Santa Mesa, Manila, and enters Quezon City before crossing G. Araneta Avenue to become Aurora Boulevard. The boulevard then enters the city of San Juan and the districts of New Manila and Cubao in Quezon City and serves as the main thoroughfare in Araneta Center. The road becomes Marikina–Infanta Highway (Marcos Highway) after crossing Katipunan Avenue. The highway then passes through the cities of Marikina then in Pasig and transverses the province of Rizal. The road continues further and terminates in Infanta, Quezon. The LRT Line 2 follows the route of R-6 from Legarda Street in Sampaloc, Manila to Marcos Highway in between the boundaries of Santolan, Pasig and Calumpang, Marikina. The road spans 88.6 kilometers (55.1 mi) long.
Radial Road 7 starts from Sampaloc, Manila. The road follows a direct route towards Quezon City. After crossing the Quezon City Memorial Circle, it becomes Commonwealth Avenue, the widest road in the Philippines. The route then follows Regalado Highway in Fairview, Quezon City, and it ends in a junction with Quirino Highway in the Neopolitan Business Park in Lagro. The road drives north to Bulacan, until it ends with a junction with Fortunato Halili Avenue. The currently under construction North Luzon East Expressway or the R-7 Expressway is a continuation of this road.
The Radial Road 9 consists of the northern portion of the Pan-Philippine Highway or AH-26.(R-2 takes the southern portion) The LRT Line 1 follows the route of R-9 from Manila to Monumento, Caloocan. R-9 starts as the Rizal Bridge from Padre Burgos Avenue. It follows a straight northward route parallel to R-8. The road becomes MacArthur Highway after crossing the Monumento Roundabout in Caloocan. The road officially ends in the road diversion in Rosario where it diverges into Kennon Road.
The Radial Road 10 is currently a 6.2-kilometer-long (3.9 mi) highway from Anda Circle in Manila to C-4 Road in Navotas.
Circumferential roads
There are six circumferential roads around the City of Manila that acts as beltways for the city. The first two runs inside the City of Manila, while the next three runs outside the City of Manila. All are beltways around Intramuros.
Circumferential Road 1 or C-1 is a route that runs inside the Manila city proper, passing through the city districts of Tondo, San Nicolas, Binondo, Santa Cruz, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Miguel, and Ermita. It starts from the North Port as Recto Avenue and becomes Legarda Street after crossing R-6. It then becomes Nepomuceno and P. Casal Streets in Quiapo. The road then crosses the Pasig River as Ayala Boulevard, which ends in Taft Avenue and enters Rizal Park as Finance Drive, which merges into the southern part of Padre Burgos Avenue, which ends in a junction with Roxas Boulevard.
The C-2 Road starts from Tondo, Manila, passing through the Manila city districts of Santa Cruz, Sampaloc, Santa Mesa, Pandacan, Paco, and Malate. It starts from R-10 (Mel Lopez Boulevard) as Capulong Street, becomes Tayuman Street past Juan Luna Street, then continues on as Arsenio H. Lacson Avenue in Santa Cruz district and becomes Nagtahan Street past Nagtahan Interchange. It then crosses the Pasig River, then becomes President Quirino Avenue, which continues on until it reaches R-1 (Roxas Boulevard), passing through the Paco and Malate districts.
The C-3 Road is a route that lies outside the City of Manila. It starts from Mel Lopez Boulevard as the C-3 Road in Navotas, and becomes 5th Avenue after entering Caloocan. It becomes Sgt. Rivera Avenue after crossing A. Bonifacio Avenue, and becomes G. Araneta Avenue after crossing Sto. Domingo Avenue in Quezon City. The road ends shortly after entering San Juan at N. Domingo Street, only resuming at the junction of J.P. Rizal Avenue and South Avenue. South Avenue becomes Ayala Avenue Extension after crossing Metropolitan Avenue. The route turns into Gil Puyat Avenue until the road ends at Roxas Boulevard in Pasay.
The C-4 Road starts from Navotas. It becomes Paterio Aquino Avenue, then becomes Gen. San Miguel Street and then Samson Road after entering Caloocan. After crossing the Monumento Roundabout, C-4 becomes EDSA, the most important thoroughfare in the metropolis. With 2.34 million vehicles and almost 314,354 cars passing through it and its segments everyday, the road is also the busiest highway and most congested in the metropolis. C-4 ends at the intersection of Roxas Boulevard in Pasay.
The road starts at the Karuhatan Exit of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Harbor Link segment that crosses the NLEX mainline and becomes Mindanao Avenue. The road will then follow the route of Congressional Avenue and Luzon Avenue, crossing Commonwealth Avenue and becoming Tandang Sora Avenue, which becomes Katipunan Avenue after crossing Magsaysay Avenue in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus. The road will then follow the route of Col. Bonny Serrano Avenue and become Eulogio Rodriguez Jr. Avenue until Pasig and Carlos P. Garcia Avenue upon entering Taguig. The road ends in the East Service Road in Taguig, parallel to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). Its southern extension across SLEX starts from the West Service Road in Pasay to Coastal Road in Las Piñas.
Currently operational in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, San Mateo, Rizal, and from Taytay, Rizal to Taguig. It is planned to be extended north up to Marilao, Bulacan and south up to Noveleta, Cavite. The Southeast Metro Manila Expressway, a superhighway currently under construction, would be considered part of C-6. It will act as a beltway of Metro Manila, so that buses and other transportation vehicles coming from the southern provinces going to the northern provinces would not need to pass through Metro Manila, thus lessening traffic in the metropolis.
The radial and circumferential road numbers are being supplanted by a new highway number system, which the Department of Public Works and Highways have laid out in 2014. The new system classifies the national roads or highways as national primary roads, national secondary roads, and national tertiary roads. Primary national roads are numbered with one to two-digit numbers. Secondary national roads are assigned three-digit numbers, with the first digit being the number of the principal national road of the region. Secondary national roads around Manila mostly connect to N1 and are numbered with 100-series numbers.
Expressways are assigned with numbers with an E prefix to avoid confusion with numbered national roads. The network consists of controlled-access highways and limited-access roads, with crossing traffic limited to overpasses, underpasses, and interchanges. Some existing expressways serving Metro Manila also form part of the latter's arterial road network (see the list above).
This list only covers roads that are listed as National Primary, National Secondary, or National Tertiary Roads on the Department of Public Works and Highways's Infrastructure Atlas[3][28] or are considered as notable roads for the specific city or municipality.
Road continues northeast as General Kalentong Street
Nueve de Pebero Street
Tertiary
two-way
2–4
Hagdang Bato Libis and Mauway
Also known as 9 de Febero Street and formerly known as Psychopathic Hospital Road. Road continues as Gomezville Street in the northwest and as Domingo Guevara Street in the east.
^Mutuc, Carlos G. "Metro Manila Infrastructure Development"(PDF). National Center for Transportation Studies. Urban Road Projects Office. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 22, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
^El-Hifnawi, Baher; Jenkins, Glenn. "Pasig River Expressway"(PDF). Kingston, Canada: Queen's University. Archived from the original(PDF) on November 6, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
^Fullerton, Laurie (1995). Philippines Handbook. Moon Publications. Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2012-06-28. Marcos Highway, Retrieved June 2012
^Salaverria, Leila (July 7, 2009). "Inquirer Headlines: EDSA". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2012.