Marikina–Infanta Highway

The Marikina–Infanta Highway (also known as Marilaque Highway and Marikina–Infanta Road; formerly known under President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s regime as Marikina Diversion Road, and later Marcos Highway) is a highway that connects Quezon City, Metro Manila with Infanta, Quezon in the Philippines.

The Marikina–Infanta Highway starts at the intersection with N11/ Circumferential Road 5/ Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City, near its boundary with Marikina, as a physical continuation of N59/ Aurora Boulevard. It traverses the Marikina Valley as a divided highway and passes through Antipolo, intersecting the Sumulong Highway at Masinag Junction. N59 exits the road to run along Sumulong Highway. After Masinag, the road ascends towards the Sierra Madre mountain range as an undivided highway passing through Tanay, Santa Maria in Laguna, and terminating in Infanta in Quezon.

Route description

The Marikina–Infanta Highway begins as a physical continuation of Aurora Boulevard under the Katipunan Flyover in Quezon City. Entering Marikina, the highway slightly curves at the intersection with Andres Bonifacio Avenue, connecting it to Marikina city proper, then crosses the Marikina River. The Diosdado Macapagal Bridge that connects with C-5 merges in front of SM City Marikina. The LRTA's Line 2 System and the Cainta–Marikina sub-transmission line of Meralco run parallel and along the highway. The highway makes another slight curve away from Marikina as it enters Pasig, and soon runs over the Cainta–Marikina boundary. It goes straight towards the Cainta– Antipolo boundary towards the Masinag Junction with Sumulong Highway, where it continues to Cogeo in Antipolo. It reaches the foothills of the Sierra Madre and traverses the municipalities of Tanay in Rizal, Santa Maria in Laguna, and Infanta in Quezon. In Infanta, the highway’s eastern terminus is at its intersection with the Famy–Real–Infanta Road, just southwest of the town proper.

This divided highway features U-turn slots and bike lanes. Several establishments, such as the Riverbanks Center, SM City Marikina, Ayala Malls Feliz, Robinsons Metro East, Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, and SM City Masinag, are primary landmarks accessible by the road. Meralco sub-transmission lines line the highway from the Cainta–Masinag segment up to Santa Maria, Laguna and on to Infanta, Quezon.

From Antipolo to Infanta, the Marikina–Infanta Highway is a standard, 2-6 lane road divided by lane markings typical of national highways in the provinces. Road size varies depending on the density of the location and the engineering district, wherein numerous road widening may occur, as determined by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The highway from Evangelista Avenue and Old J.P. Rizal Road to Sumulong Highway has one-way Class I bicycle lanes with a length of and a width of , which were established by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in 2012. In the 2020s, this was expanded with Class II paint-separated one-way bicycle lanes from the start of the highway up to Evangelista Avenue and Old J.P. Rizal Road as part of the Metropolitan Bike Lane Network.

Alternative names

Its section in Cainta and Antipolo, particularly from Masinag Junction to the Rizal–Metro Manila boundary, is officially known as Marikina Diversion Road, as it diverts motorists away from the city proper of Marikina. It is also known as Marilaque Highway, from an acronym of the places it passes: Marikina, Rizal, Laguna, and Quezon. Street signs tend to bear the Marilaque name for convenience and memorability.

Marikina–Infanta Highway or Marikina–Infanta Road was also known as ''Marcos'' Highway before being renamed after President Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown in the 1986 People Power Revolution.

Route numbers

Since 2014, when the DPWH began implementing the new route numbering system, its section from Katipunan Avenue to Sumulong Highway has been a component of National Route 59 (N59) of the Philippine highway network. The rest of the road is unnumbered, and identified as a tertiary national road.

History

The highway existed as far back as the American colonial era as Highway 55, which included present-day Recto Avenue, Legarda Street, Magsaysay Boulevard, and Aurora Boulevard.

In the 1970s, the highway was developed under dictator Ferdinand Marcos as Marikina Diversion Road. Construction of the current highway began in 1993 with an estimated cost of over ₱1 billion.

Intersections

Accidents

A section of the road near Palo Alto Subdivision in Tanay, Rizal, dubbed the "Devil's Curve", is a frequent site for motorcyclists performing dangerous stunts due to the sharp curved roads. This frequently results in major accidents. According to the PNP Highway Patrol Group, 158 accidents were reported along the highway in 2024, with 110 occurring in the Palo Alto area.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marikina-Infanta Highway
Roads in Metro Manila
Roads in Rizal (province)
Roads in Laguna (province)
Roads in Quezon
Sierra Madre (Philippines)
Bike lanes in Metro Manila