PR-22 (also part of unsigned Interstate PR2) is an ''Guía de Carreteras Principales, Expresos y Autopistas.'' (In Spanish) Puerto Rico Autoridad de Carreteras y Transportacion (ACT).
/ref> long

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

in the north coast of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

that connects the cities of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

and Hatillo. The road is also known as the ''José de Diego Expressway'' (Spanish: ''Expreso José de Diego''), and is part of unsigned

Interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

PR-2. It is a 4-lane road for much of its length, but expands to up to 12 lanes in the San Juan metro area. The road is frequently congested, in particular during rush hour due to heavy commuter traffic.

Route description

PR-22 is Puerto Rico's most traveled highway. PR-22 runs parallel to PR-2 and is concurrent with unsigned Interstate Highway PRI-2. Unlike PR-22, PR-2 is not a

controlled-access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

road, and has numerous traffic signals throughout the full run of its course. The construction of highway PR-22 reduced congestion on PR-2. The eastern terminus is at PR-26 (a non-tolled freeway) in Santurce, and passes through the

Minillas Tunnel The Minillas Tunnel is a tunnel located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The tunnel starts at the end of Puerto Rico Highway 22 (unsigned Interstate PR2), in the area of Santurce, exiting near El Condado. The tunnel was built from 1978 through 1980. S ...

before its terminus at PR-26. The freeway bypasses all of the cities PR-2 passes through (see below under "Course of the Expressway"). PR-22's western terminus is at PR-2 in Hatillo. From there, PR-2 continues to

Aguadilla Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is s ...

and Mayagüez, ending in Ponce.

Municipalities served

The following is the list of municipalities/towns which PR-22 cuts through, in order from San Juan to Hatillo (westbound): *

Guaynabo Guaynabo (, ) is a city, suburb of San Juan and municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas, south of Cataño, east of Bayamón, and west of San Juan. Guaynabo is spr ...

* Cataño * Bayamón *

Toa Baja Toa Baja (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northern coast, north of Toa Alta and Bayamón; east of Dorado; and west of Cataño. Toa Baja is spread over five barrios, including Toa Baja Pueblo (the downtown area and ...

Dorado Dorado () is a constellation in the southern sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus''), which is known as ''dorado'' in Spanish, altho ...

* Vega Alta *

Vega Baja Vega Baja (, ) is a town and municipality located on the coast of north central Puerto Rico. It is north of Morovis, east of Manatí, and west of Vega Alta. Vega Baja is spread over 13 barrios. The population of the municipality was 54,414 at t ...

* Manatí * Barceloneta *

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, the ...

* Hatillo

History

Construction of this road began in 1969. The section from San Juan to Toa Baja opened in 1969 and in 1997 to Arecibo. Construction of the road was partially funded from appropriations of the

U.S. Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

Privatization

The Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico (Metropistas) consortium, comprised by Abertis Infraestructuras and Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners II LP, placed the winning bid for the 40-year PR-22 and

PR-5 Puerto Rico Highway 5 (PR-5) is a main highway in the San Juan Metropolitan area which connects the cities of Cataño to Bayamón and is being extended and converted to a tollway (it has a toll plaza in Bayamón near PR-2 and PR-174) to access ...

highway concession. The highways generate between $90 million and $95 million annually in toll revenue, which will now go to the private operators.

Future

PR-140, Florida Farmacéuticas, Salida 57 sign on PR-22

PR-22 is planned to be extended to Aguadilla. The extension will be built as part of a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...

, who will maintain and operate PR-22 for the next 40 years.

Services

Logo signs

In 2021, Metropistas began installing logo signs at exits advertising available food, gas, lodging, camping, and attractions available at exits via a contract with SunColors. As of January 2022 such signs have been installed at Exit 13 in Bayamón, and Exit 48 in Manatí.

Tolls

PR-22 is maintained by a system of tolls managed by the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works. All of its toll plazas have express lanes. After June 17, 2017, the seven tolls plaza of the PR-22 will become bidirectional. Originally, PR-22 had only five toll plazas (Fort Buchanan, Toa Baja, Vega Alta, Factor ramp, and Hatillo); the Manatí and Arecibo toll plazas were added in the early 1990s. The future segment from Hatillo to Aguadilla is expected to have four additional toll plazas;DTOP
/ref> however, it remains to be seen whether they will be one way or two way. As of 2014–2015, plans are underway to implement

Open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The m ...

(ORT) and currently on many stretches of PR-22; Cash is no longer accepted to pay tolls with the exception of replenishing the toll tag. On June 17, 2017 the new two-way collection rates came into effect by AutoExpreso in PR-22 and PR-5.

Exit list

References

External links

* {{Public–private partnerships in Puerto Rico 022 22 Public–private partnerships in Puerto Rico 22 Tolled sections of Interstate Highways