Ortigas Avenue is a 12.1 km (7.5 mi) highway connecting eastern Metro Manila and western Rizal in the Philippines. It is one of the busiest highways in Metro Manila, serving as the main thoroughfare of the metro's east–west corridor, catering mainly to traffic to and from Rizal.
The western terminus of the highway is at the boundary of San Juan and Quezon City. The highway then traverses through Ortigas Center and along the cities of Mandaluyong, Quezon City, and Pasig, followed by the municipality of Cainta, and finally ending in the municipality of Taytay.
The portion of Ortigas Avenue from EDSA–Ortigas Interchange, Quezon City to the Buli Bridge at the Pasig–Cainta boundary is designated as Radial Road 5 (R-5).[1] The highway is also designated as National Route 60 (N60) and National Route 184 (N184) of the Philippine highway network, respectively.
Etymology
The highway is named after Filipino lawyer and businessman Don Francisco Emilio Barcinas Ortigas Sr. (1875–1935), popularly known as "Don Paco" or simply Francisco Ortigas. Ortigas is known for establishing a partnership with several businessmen (now Ortigas & Company) in 1931 to purchase the 4,033-hectare (9,970-acre) Hacienda de Mandaluyon from the Augustinian Order, which now spans the cities of San Juan, Mandaluyong, Pasig, and Quezon City.[2][3][4]
Route description
View of the avenue east towards Cainta from Rosario pedestrian overpass
Ortigas Avenue cuts eastwards from the city boundary of San Juan and Quezon City in Metro Manila to Antipolo in Rizal, passing through residential, industrial, and commercial areas, including Ortigas Center, its namesake central business district. Its section from Bonny Serrano Avenue to EDSA forms part of National Route 184 (N184), a secondary national road under the Philippine highway network. Meanwhile, the rest of the route east of EDSA forms part of National Route 60 (N60), a primary national road. Eastwards past the C5–Ortigas Interchange in Pasig, the avenue is called Ortigas Avenue Extension. Its section from Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue in Pasig to Felix Avenue at the Cainta Junction is officially known as Pasig–Cainta Road and forms part of the Manila East Road. From Cainta Junction to Kaytikling Rotunda in Taytay, it is alternatively known as Cainta-Kayticling-Antipolo-Teresa-Morong Road.
It crosses Bonifacio and Felix Avenues at Cainta Junction. It then continues to Taytay and passes over the Kaytikling Rotunda with Taytay Diversion Road in Taytay, Rizal before continuing as Manila East Road.
Bicycle lanes
Most of the road from its intersection with Bonny Serrano Avenue to the Pasig–Cainta borde has Class II paint-separated one-way bicycle lanes as part of the Metropolitan Bike Lane Network.[5] Additionally, the entire span of Ortigas Avenue from Bonny Serrano Avenue to Connecticut Street in San Juan has bollards as protection. However, these bollards are frequently damaged by motorists who intrude into the bicycle lanes, as the San Juan city government has struggled to regularly replace damaged bollards since its implementation in 2020.[6]
On August 18, 2023, San Juan MayorFrancis Zamora issued an advisory stating that the city has removed the bollards along the Ortigas Avenue bicycle lanes to be replaced with cat eye markers. The advisory stated that this was done following a "thorough evaluation" conducted by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to "restore roads to their optimal capacity" due to "congestion and a reduction in road capacity".[7]
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