Puerto Rico Highway 53

Puerto Rico Highway 53 (PR-53) or unsigned Interstate PR3 is a main tollway that is parallel to Puerto Rico Highway 3, which goes from Fajardo to Salinas.^[6] Some segments are still in planning, but when finished it will be about 58 miles (93 km) in length.^{[citation needed]} Two tunnels, about 0.6 mi (1 km) long each, in the towns of Yabucoa and Maunabo were completed in October 2008 (2008-10). It will connect the cities of Fajardo, Ceiba, Naguabo, Humacao, Yabucoa, Maunabo, Patillas, Arroyo, Guayama and Salinas, thus bordering the entire eastern and southeastern coasts of Puerto Rico. Its northern terminus is at PR-3 and PR-194 in Fajardo, and its south terminus is at PR-52 in Salinas.

Highway 53
Ruta 53
Autopista Dr. José Celso Barbosa
PR-53 highlighted in red; future segments in yellow
Route information
Maintained by Metropistas
Length	94.0 km[1][2][3][4] (58.4 mi)
Existed	1988[5]–present
Major junctions
South end	PR-52 in Lapa
Major intersections	PR-54 in Palmas PR-3 in Palmas PR-3 in Pollos PR-901 in Emajagua PR-9914 in Camino Nuevo PR-906 in Candelero Abajo–Buena Vista PR-30 in Buena Vista PR-3 in Río Abajo PR-31 in Río Blanco PR-205 in Duque
North end	PR-3 in Quebrada Vueltas
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Puerto Rico
Municipalities	Salinas, Guayama, Arroyo, Patillas, Maunabo, Yabucoa, Humacao, Naguabo, Ceiba, Fajardo
Highway system
Roads in Puerto Rico List
← PR-52 → PR-54

Route description

The highway consists of five toll plazas; these are at Ceiba Norte, Humacao Norte, Humacao Sur^[7] (near Palmas del Mar), Guayama and Salinas. All toll plazas have AutoExpreso lanes.

Three phases of the tollway have been completed: the first one was from Salinas to Guayama, which is about 7.5 miles (12.1 km) long (milepost 83 to 95 km), the second from Fajardo to Yabucoa at 28 mi (45 km) (This includes an incomplete bridge in Yabucoa that does not fall into the high-speed highway classification in the interstate system as it is only one lane per direction and will require the addition of an additional bridge or constructing a bridge over the existing bridge, as it lies in a main corn and plantain field.) Recently 1.2 miles (1.9 km), between Yabucoa and Maunabo, includes the last tunnel, Vicente Morales, was opened in October 2008. The total constructed highway at this time is 34 miles (55 km), leaving nearly 25 miles (40 km) to be constructed in Yabucoa (including the other additional tunnel) and from Maunabo to Guayama which is the longest to-be-built segment. The lanes in the Yabucoa segments were divided by painted yellow lines and no-passing zone boards, but a concrete median barrier had to be installed because some cars still passed others going slower, resulting in deadly head-on collisions; illegal night races also had deadly consequences.

• Southern segments
• 
  Southwestern terminus of PR-53 in Salinas, connecting with PR-52
• 
  PR-53 overpass in Pozo Hondo, a barrio in Guayama
• 
  Maunabo Tunnels under construction, 2008

PR-53 is the tollway with the lowest traffic in Puerto Rico, and very few congestion jams have been reported. PR-53 does not enter highly populated towns (none of them are over 100,000; the largest are Fajardo, Humacao and Guayama) and is not close to increase its traffic due to the fact that most of the population in the east part of Puerto Rico live in the San Juan metro area, Caguas and Cayey, cities where PR-53 makes no appearance; and the main traffic in Humacao is mostly located on the PR-30 and PR-60 highways. The center/business area of Humacao is accessed via PR-30 and PR-60, not by PR-53. Because of this, PR-53 has no more than two lanes per direction in the constructed segments and will probably have no more than two lanes per direction in the entire length.

PR-53 is also prone to flooding in the areas near Naguabo and Fajardo: during heavy rains, it is sometimes closed to traffic.^{[citation needed]} There are current proposals to convert PR-3 from Rio Grande to Fajardo into a freeway to provide a controlled-access route between PR-53's northern terminus and the second phase of PR-66.^{[citation needed]} At the rate of construction, the entire PR-53 corridor might be completed within the next ten years.^{[citation needed]} The first segment of PR-53 was opened in 1994; from Fajardo to Ceiba, in 1994, and from Ceiba to Humacao, in 1997, except between exit 13 and 17 in summer 2002.

• Eastern segments
• 
  Eastern terminus of the PR-30 freeway with the PR-53 interchange
• 
  PR-53 in Humacao heading towards El Yunque
• 
  PR-53 freeway overpass over PR-3 in Humacao at exit 31

Tolls

Location	Toll[8]	Direction	AutoExpreso acceptance	AutoExpreso replenishment (R) lane
Húcar	$1.15	Northbound
Guayama	$0.60	Two-way
Humacao Sur	$1.15	Southbound
Humacao Norte	$1.15	Northbound
Ceiba	$1.15	Southbound

Exit list

• 
  PR-53 south at exit 35A to PR-906 west in Humacao

Municipality	Location	km [1][2][3][4]	mi	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Salinas	Lapa	94.0	58.4	—	PR-52 (PRI-1 / Autopista Luis A. Ferré) – Ponce, San Juan	Southern terminus of PR-53; PR-52 exits 60 and 61
		93.1	57.8	Húcar Toll Plaza (toll northbound only)
	Aguirre	90.8– 90.7	56.4– 56.4	90	PR-706 – Aguirre
Guayama	Pozo Hondo	87.0– 86.9	54.1– 54.0	87	PR-713 – Villodas, Cimarrona
		83.5	51.9	83	PR-7707 (Carretera Johnny Albino) – Jobos
		82.1	51.0	Guayama Toll Plaza
	Palmas	80.8	50.2		PR-54 east (Avenida Pedro Albizu Campos) – Guayama, Arroyo, Patillas	Western terminus of PR-54
Temporary gap in PR-53
Arroyo	Palmas	0.0[lower-alpha 1]	0.0		PR-3 – Arroyo, Patillas	At-grade T junction
Patillas	Cacao Bajo	1.0[lower-alpha 1]	0.62		Patillas Airport	At-grade T junction, closed
	Pollos	3.0[lower-alpha 1]	1.9	—	PR-3 – Patillas, Maunabo	Incomplete Diamond interchange. Mainline stub exist for a future extension.[9]
Temporary gap in PR-53
Maunabo	Emajagua	51.7	32.1		PR-901 – Yabucoa, Maunabo	At-grade T junction
		50.4– 49.8	31.3– 30.9	Túnel Vicente Morales Lebrón
		49.5	30.8		PR-901 – Yabucoa, Maunabo	At-grade T junction
Temporary gap in PR-53
Yabucoa	Camino Nuevo	43.9	27.3		PR-9914 to PR-901 – Yabucoa, Maunabo	Currently as At-grade Three-way junction. Diamond interchange and roundabout under construction for future extension.[10]
	Río Guayanés and Río del Ingenio	42.9– 40.3	26.7– 25.0	Puente Ramón Luis Cruz Dávila
	Playa	40.0	24.9	39	PR-906 (Avenida Luis M. Castro Díaz) – Yabucoa, Playa	South end of 4 lanes Interstate Highway standards to 2 lanes divided freeway.
Humacao	Candelero Abajo–Buena Vista line	35.5	22.1	35	PR-906 (Avenida Luis M. Castro Díaz) – Palmas del Mar, Candelero Abajo	Southbound exits signed  35A (north) and 35B (south)
	Buena Vista	34.8	21.6	Humacao Sur Toll Plaza (toll southbound only)
		33.8	21.0	33	PR-30 west (Expreso Cruz Ortiz Stella) – Humacao Centro, Humacao Oeste, Caguas, San Juan
	Río Abajo	31.2	19.4	31	PR-3 – Humacao Centro, Punta Santiago, Junquito
	Antón Ruíz	28.3	17.6	Humacao Norte Toll Plaza (toll northbound only)
		25.9	16.1	25	To PR-927 – Antón Ruíz, Mambiche
Naguabo	Río Blanco	22.2	13.8	22	PR-31 – Juncos, Río Blanco	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Maizales	20.8– 20.7	12.9– 12.9	20	PR-970 – Naguabo Oeste, Maizales
	Duque	18.3	11.4	18	PR-205 to PR-31 – Naguabo Centro
	Duque–Mariana line	17.1	10.6	17	PR-971 – Naguabo Este, Duque	Southbound exit only
	Mariana	13.6	8.5	13	PR-3 / PR-973 – Playa de Naguabo, Duque, Mariana
Ceiba	Quebrada Seca	10.3	6.4	10	PR-3 – Roosevelt Roads, Aguas Claras
	Ceiba barrio-pueblo	5.9– 5.8	3.7– 3.6	6	PR-978 – Ceiba Sur, Roosevelt Roads
	Saco	4.9	3.0	5	PR-975 – Ceiba Norte, Ceiba Centro
	Machos	4.1	2.5	Ceiba Toll Plaza (toll southbound only)
Fajardo	Quebrada Vueltas	1.8	1.1	2	To PR-3 – Demajagua, Puerto del Rey	Access to José Aponte de la Torre Airport
		0.0	0.0		PR-3 (PRI-3) to PR-194 – Fajardo, Carolina	Northern terminus of PR-53. Interstate PR3 continues northwestbound via PR-3 as an At-grade traffic lighted expressway.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Incomplete access        Tolled       Route transition       Unopened

1. Kilometer markers in the Arroyo–Patillas segment have not been adjusted to those of the rest of PR-53.

See also

• Puerto Rico portal
• U.S. Roads portal

• Interstate Highways in Puerto Rico
• José Celso Barbosa

References

1. "PR-53 east" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
2. "PR-53 southeast" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
3. "PR-53 south" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
4. "PR-53 southwest" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
5. Historia. Departamento de Transportacion y Obras Publicas de Puerto Rico. Archived on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
6. Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works. "Datos de Transito 2000-2009" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
7. "Humacao Bridges". National Bridge Inventory Data. US Dept. of Transportation. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
8. "Mapas y Tarifas". Metropistas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
9. "Google Maps".
10. "Google Maps".

External links

Template:Attached KML/Puerto Rico Highway 53

KML is from Wikidata

• Hawaii Highways: Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico Interstate Photographs (2002)