The Balintawak Interchange , also known as the Balintawak Cloverleaf, is a two-level

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

which serves as the junction between

Epifanio de los Santos Avenue Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly referred to by its acronym EDSA, is a limited-access circumferential highway around Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It passes through 6 of Metro Manila's 17 local government units or cities, ...

(EDSA) and the

North Luzon Expressway The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects M ...

(NLEx). Opened in 1968 as part of the initial NLEx segment between Quezon City and

Guiguinto Guiguinto, officially the Municipality of Guiguinto ( tgl, Bayan ng Guiguinto), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 113,415 people. Guiguinto is one of the fa ...

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metr ...

, it was one of the first projects of the Construction and Development Corporation of the Philippines, now the

Philippine National Construction Corporation The Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) in the Philippines. It is the largest construction company in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia. It is usually tasked with major ...

(PNCC). Construction of the interchange was precipitated by the large number of motor vehicles in Manila and the surrounding suburbs in the 1960s, which contributed to significant

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

. On June 25, 1966,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

ordered the

Department of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

to undertake the construction of a number of road projects to be financed through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

reparations, including the construction of interchanges on vital intersections along EDSA.

Office of the President of the Philippines The Office of the President of the Philippines (OP; fil, links=no, Tanggapan ng Pangulo ng Pilipinas), is an administrative, advisory, and consultative government agency that aids the president of the Philippines in performing their duty as he ...

. (1966).
Official Week in Review: June 16 — June 30, 1966
. ''

Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines The ''Official Gazette'', which is printed by the National Printing Office (NPO), is the public journal and main publication of the government of the Philippines. Its website only uploads what has been published; it is managed by Presidential C ...

'', 62(31), cclxi-cclxxvii. This order would later lead to the construction of this interchange, replacing a previous

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

between EDSA, A. Bonifacio Avenue, and

Quirino Highway The Quirino Highway, formerly called the El Quirino Express Road or Ipo Road, is a four-to-eight lane, secondary highway that connects Quezon City to the municipality of Norzagaray in Bulacan, Philippines. The road is a designated as National ...

, and the

Magallanes Interchange The Magallanes Interchange is a four-level partial turbine interchange in Makati, Metro Manila, the Philippines, serving as the junction between the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Osmeña Highway, and Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). It is a ...

between EDSA and the

South Luzon Expressway The South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), signed as E2 of the Philippine expressway network and R-3 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects Metro Manila to the provinces in the Calabarzon region ...

(SLEX), which opened in 1975. A shrine to

Andres Bonifacio Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

would later be constructed inside the interchange, which underwent a renovation in 2009. Flooding in the area around the Balintawak Interchange is a problem, with the interchange being named in 2014 as one of the twenty-two most flood-prone roadways in Metro Manila. In 2015, the

Manila North Tollways Corporation NLEX Corporation (formerly Manila North Tollways Corporation) is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), a company owned by Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (). It holds the concession rights to construct, operate and ma ...

, the concessionaire of NLEX, spent close to to improve the interchange's drainage systems in order to mitigate flooding. In addition to flooding, the interchange has been criticized by columnist Cito Beltran of ''

The Philippine Star ''The Philippine Star'' (self-styled ''The Philippine STAR'') is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Philstar Media Group. First published on July 28, 1986, by veteran journalists Betty Go-Belmonte, ...

'' for being rife with corrupt policemen and petty crime. Apart from the wet markets and drop-off points of goods from the north,

Ayala Malls Cloverleaf Ayala Malls Cloverleaf is a shopping mall developed and managed by Ayala Malls, inside the Cloverleaf Estate in Quezon City. This is among Ayala Malls' establishments in Quezon City, after Ayala Malls Vertis North, UP Town Center and TriNoma. ...

and the entire Cloverleaf complex is located southeast of the interchange. An LRT-1 station serves the location east of the interchange.

References

{{Authority control Road interchanges in the Philippines